In March 2023, Human Nature submitted the first detailed planning application of housing on the Phoenix. Ash Sakula Architects’ ‘Parcel 1’ comprises 44 homes, arranged as three and four-storey terraces on a triangular brownfield site, overlooking the River Ouse and an area of unspoilt woodland on the edge of Lewes. 

The terraces are made up of a mix of townhouses and apartments, with almost every home having its own front door onto Jacobs Square, the shared central courtyard space named for Jane Jacobs, the great champion of community-based development. A communal cycle store, inhabitable thresholds outside residents’ front doors, play areas and community gardening plots are designed to create neighbourly interaction and promote a culture of shared living.

The courtyard, designed in collaboration with Periscope, incorporates an extensive rain garden as part of the flood mitigation measures, while providing a place to sit, talk and play when dry. The intention is to build Parcel 1 homes with timber panels incorporating hempcrete and wood fibre insulation, finished with lime render.

The design of the Parcel 1 draws strongly on the ‘golden threads’ of Lewes, through its scale and form, the rhythm of rooflines and facades, animated window designs and even the use of chimneys for ventilation. The facades also respond to their immediate context, with differing colour palettes and subtly different fenestration patterns to the river side, the edge of the Pells area, and the courtyard within.