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Totnes Ecology – Biodiversity Housing

Part 2 Project 2025
Alex Saw Yan Naung
 University of East London London | UK
This project reimagines a central car park in Totnes, Devon, as a mixed-use, ecologically driven development that responds to urgent housing needs while enhancing the town’s environmental and social fabric. Positioned between Totnes High Street and the Leechwell Garden, the site offers an opportunity to reconnect fragmented civic and ecological systems.

The proposal introduces a new neighbourhood of varied housing types arranged around a central public square. Alongside homes, the scheme incorporates shops, workshops, a café, allotment gardens, rooftop planting, and outdoor gathering spaces. A green deck sits above a reconfigured basement car park, retaining existing infrastructure while supporting a new layered landscape.

The design integrates biodiversity corridors, seasonal planting, and sustainable drainage into the built form. A long-term management model is proposed through a community trust, allowing revenue from the car park, housing, and retail units to subsidise affordable housing, maintain public spaces, and support partnerships with local schools and organisations.

Drawing inspiration from Totnes’s agricultural history and its ecological future, the project invites residents, plants, and wildlife to share space. It aims to become not only a place to live, but a civic landscape that grows and adapts over time.

Tutor(s)
2025
Image 1 – Regional Context and Site Location An aerial perspective showing Totnes, Dartington, and Bowden Pillars Farm, with potential future sites highlighted. The selected site is emphasised as a key opportunity for ecological and civic regeneration.
Image 2 – Urban Strategy and Integration Diagram showing how the proposal connects to the High Street, green corridors, and nearby amenities. The image demonstrates the project's seamless integration into the fabric of Totnes.
Image 3 – Site Axonometric A full axonometric drawing of the proposal, illustrating spatial organisation, programme layering, and the relationship between housing, landscape, and civic space.
Image 4 – Ground Floor Plan Plan showing the arrangement of housing, shops, public square, café, and planting zones at ground level. Designed to encourage walkability, informal gathering, and visual openness.
Image 5 – Entrance from High Street A rendered view of the entrance into the site from the High Street, framed by allotment gardens and local shops, with a circular window drawing the eye toward the central café.
Image 6 – Civic Life at the Heart of the Site Render showing the main square in use, with residents and visitors gathering around the café and open space. The image captures the social rhythm of the project.
Image 7 – Rooftop Garden View A view from the rooftop garden looking toward Bridgetown and Bowden Pillars Farm. The planting and sightlines demonstrate how the design connects back to the larger landscape.
Image 8 – Biodiversity and Ecology Strategy Overlay of the main square elevation with ecological mapping, showing where plants, birds, mammals, amphibians, and invertebrates are expected to thrive on site.
Image 9 – Entrance from Leechwell Side A perspective render showing the arrival from the rear of the site, with housing and green decking emerging from the landscape. A public route from the Leechwell Garden is integrated into the design.
Image 10 – Final View of Main Square A view from the rooftop overlooking the main square, with the church in the distance and a central water feature inspired by nearby springs. The image captures the spatial and symbolic heart of the proposal.
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