Jas Bhalla Works are leading a multi-disciplinary design team to design and deliver Phase 3B of Northstowe, a new town in Cambridgeshire. Outline consent for 1,000 new homes, a local centre and a primary school at Phase 3B was secured in 2022. Jas Bhalla Works led the design work that helped secure the site for Vistry Group in 2025, and are now progressing a site-wide design code and reserved matters application for the first 230 homes.

Northstowe will be the UK’s largest new town since the development of Milton Keynes in the 1960s and is set to deliver homes for up to 25,000 residents. Whilst the site benefits from direct public transport and active travel links to Cambridge, the initial phases have been beset by challenges arising from a lack of essential amenities and poor-quality public realm.

Delivering social infrastructure up front has been an essential part of our emerging proposals for Phase 3B. Our scheme will deliver key elements of the new local centre in the earliest phase, which, once complete, will provide dedicated community facilities, retail, co-working areas, a café and a new school alongside the first homes.

Active uses will front a new town square, which, like the surrounding streets, has been carefully orientated to retain views towards an existing tree copse and fish pond. The masterplan comprises a clear hierarchy of connected open spaces, including new linear parks, green corridors, community gardens and green streets. These landscaped elements interface directly with the protected mature woodland copse and retained hedgerows, incorporating sustainable drainage features designed to provide wildlife habitats, enhance biodiversity and frame play on the way.

Leveraging our experience across the scale of both individual homes and new places, we have coordinated a scheme that prioritises long-term community value from the outset, embedding social infrastructure, landscape and sustainable movement into the earliest phases of delivery.

A detailed planning application for Phase 3B will be submitted in Autumn 2026.

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