Audley Fairmile, Cobham
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Audley Fairmile, Cobham
Overview
The Audley Group have recently expanded their luxury retirement village offering to Cobham, a beautiful and natural part of Surrey. Having worked in partnership with Gaunt Francis Architects for over 15 years, Audley Group once again chose their trusted team to design the new care-focused Fairmile, which provides 74 premium two-bed properties with top facilities, including a restaurant, pool and health club. The area is surrounded by serene greenery in the form of award-winning 158-acre landscape garden, Painshill Park, as well as nearby National Trust landscape garden, Claremont.
Graham Construction were selected to manage the new development and Vobster Architectural to manufacture and supply the wet cast Portland stone that defines the premium nature of the retirement village, all perfectly installed by Lee Marley Brickwork Ltd. Taking inspiration from some of the local architecture, Fairmile’s use of cast stone features distinct columns, chamfered window surrounds, lattice design entrance panels, architraves and protruding cornices that differentiate the sophisticated mansard roofs from the main facade, as well as final touches such as pier caps.
The Audley Group have been building and managing award-winning luxury retirement villages for over 20 years and Fairmile is a reflection of this exceptional experience and knowledge. Audley always work with the key focus of prioritising care and meeting the needs of all their residents, for a fulfilled retirement.
During design consultation, the site opted to incorporate Georgian motifs, as although the local architecture largely varied, this was a main recurring feature. A buff-coloured brick was selected, with the assistance of the specification team at Taylor Maxwell, as a natural continuation of the colour scheme found in the region. Compared to the popular red brick and cast stone paring widely seen in the local area, this produced a more harmonious development. Chamfered window surrounds feature across the village, as well as squared, thin columns on the main entrances. These bring a sleek and contemporary touch to the otherwise historically sympathetic builds.
Consistent with Georgian architecture, the cast stone cornices define the roof from the facade. A mansard roof was chosen instead of a third floor to offer more of a domestic feel to the development and keep all the buildings on the site a consistent height with the surrounding area.
The cast stone panels neighbouring the impressive entranceway are latticed, mirroring the nearby balcony designs for a delicate yet detailed first impression of the main building. The Portland cast stone components were produced to bespoke measurements to fully support the architect’s design vision and finished to a ‘medium etch’, meaning the aggregates incorporated within the cast stone mix are more visible.
Vobster and Taylor Maxwell were proud to work on such a beautiful and beneficial project together. The longevity of the cast stone will allow the buildings at Fairmile to weather well and retain their striking appearance for years to come.
To learn more about bespoke wet cast stone, visit – https://www.vobsterarchitectural.co.uk/products/bespoke-cast-stone
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