Buying in Essex: new commuter homes in Harlow on architecture award-winning development

Asked in 1953 to create a public sculpture for Harlow New Town in Essex, Henry Moore came up with Family Group.

Depicting mother, father and child, the sculpture symbolised the universal aspirations of the post-war generation.

Much of this generation had relocated from bombed-out London to start new lives surrounded by the green belt. Over a third of Harlow is parkland or fields.

The sculpture was a fitting emblem then, and remains so now. Fifties Harlow was known as “pram town” because it had a birth rate three times the national average.

Today, the town still attracts families priced out of the capital who want not just an affordable home in leafy surroundings, but one with a design edge.

As well as having more than 80 public sculptures by greats such as Moore, Hepworth and Rodin, Harlow New Town is known for brutalist concrete architecture and innovative building techniques, loved by some and loathed by others.

Britain’s first pedestrian precinct and its first modern-style tower block, The Lawn, now listed, were built here.

Newhall, a new address being built on farmland on the outskirts of Harlow, is reprising the spirit of its older neighbour.

A forward-thinking design approach has scooped awards from the Royal Institute of British Architects and the Royal Town Planning Institute.

Homes at this new 280-acre neighbourhood have to conform to an overall design code, but they have architectural variety and often a distinctly modern twist while also fitting neatly into the semi-rural landscape.

Walk around and you see tree-lined, contoured roads rather than grid-like boulevards.

Buildings have projecting bay windows and conservatories, domed and steep-pitched roofs; timber-clad walls alongside powder-coated aluminium coloured panels; copper, steel and glass façades mixing with Welsh slate, or even thatch.

Some homes have double-height space, spiral staircases and extensive glazing. Eventually there will be about 3,000 homes, so this is a high-density development of the kind normally reserved for large brownfield sites.

Disused farm buildings have been remodelled into a community centre, while a primary school is nearing completion.

Launching next week is Base, a collection of apartments and houses. Prices from £230,000. Trains to Liverpool Street take 40 minutes. Call 01279 881649.