The Ministry of Defence set up a consortium to build 7,500 houses on a redundant RAF/USAF air base in North Oxfordshire. Local reception to this proposal was hostile and the Council for the Protection of Rural England, in collaboration with local resident organisations, ran a competition to propose an alternative and sustainable use for the site. The entries were to be used as part of package to put pressure on the consortium.

Halvorsen Architects proposed the development of an organic farm encompassing both the farming and processing of foods, fibres and timber. Incorporated on the site was a village for 1,000 inhabitants, the maximum the site alone can sustain, and some leisure facilities. The massive aircraft hangers were reused wherever possible.

A strategy was developed based on the sustainable principles of: energy, water, crops and transport. Our scheme looked at the impact of 1,000 new residents on the local community, including transport and employment implications.

Our entry was subsequently shown at a public exhibition and we were asked to present our scheme at a public debate.