Surrey flats and townhouses: former Birds Eye site has 375 homes around garden squares — and fast links to London

New homes have come out of the deep freeze at the former Birds Eye HQ site in Walton-on-Thames, Surrey.

The food giant’s iconic Sixties offices have been bulldozed to make way for Walton Court Gardens comprising 375 apartments and townhouses, but a central listed building on the six-acre estate has been saved.

Architect Broadway Malyan’s new design, of low-rise blocks set around garden squares and courtyards with pools, is a reinterpretation of the original’s crisp, geometric forms.

A listed sculpture, Leaping Bird, created to reinforce the Birds Eye brand, has survived and will be reinstated at the entrance to the development.

The address is Station Avenue, which explains why the homes are likely to strike a chord with London commuters. There are four trains an hour to Waterloo, taking just 26 minutes.

Back in 1961, the Birds Eye base was one of the first corporate campuses to be built outside London, bringing together all its staff in one leafy location close to rail, road and airports. That has resonance today, as Covid-19 could trigger office relocations to the suburbs.

Picturesque, riverside Walton-on-Thames, popular with yachties, is known for its elegant, single-span bridge across the river, opened in 2013.

Walton’s previous bridges were famously painted by Canaletto and JMW Turner.

Walton Court Gardens prices start at £324,950. Call 01932 282640.