Hillside Nurseries

ECE Architecture

A contemporary mixed-use hamlet in Bury, shaped by a classic farmstead layout with two purposeful yards, authentic local materials, and a seamless blend of homes and workspace.

Organised as a regular multi-yard farmstead, the masterplan separates commercial and residential activity into two distinct yards. This clear structure delivers legible movement, calm residential streets, and efficient servicing, while creating a characterful sense of arrival that resonates with the settlement’s rural grain and working landscape.

Taking cues from Bury’s vernacular, the architecture uses clay tile, slate, and metal roofs over tactile flint, grey brick, and setts. Robust concrete yards and gravel drives reference agricultural precedents, balancing refinement with authenticity. Massing, eaves lines, and courtyard proportions are tuned to the local streetscape, delivering a bold, contextual presence that elevates the village edge.

Key challenges included managing level changes, integrating a sustainable surface water strategy, and ensuring neighbourly relationships between living and working. We shaped plots to the topography, embedded SuDS within the yards, and safeguarded existing green infrastructure. Carefully positioned thresholds, acoustic separation, and service routes keep commercial activity efficient and discreet, maintaining residential comfort and privacy.

The mixed-use blend comprises seven commercial units alongside seven homes – 2 four-bed, 3 three-bed, and 2 two-bed dwellings, with the two-bed houses delivered as affordable homes. The commercial yard frames an appealing business address, while the residential yard offers a calm, human-scaled setting. Together, they create day-long activation, passive surveillance, and a resilient local economy.

Landscape enhancements stitch the development into its setting, reinforcing hedgerows and biodiversity corridors. Material continuity across yards ties buildings and public realm, while subtle detailing – brick reveals, flint panels, and crafted junctions – adds depth. A sustainable drainage network is woven into hard landscaped surfaces, turning working yards into durable, climate-resilient places.

Hillside Nurseries demonstrates how a rigorous farmstead arrangement, rooted in local craft and material honesty, can deliver a vibrant mixed-use destination. Design excellence meets technical integrity, ensuring the vision translates on site, creating lasting value for residents, businesses, and the village, today and for the long term.