A site for our community
After several years of trying to secure a site for our new community, in Spring 2024 we were offered the chance to get it built!
Following consideration by cocreators, Suvana agreed to collaborate with TOWN - the UK’s leading developer of cohousing - to explore the delivery of homes for our community on part of their site in the Northstowe development near Cambridge.
Read more about Northstowe and the Suvana site on this page.
Where and what is Northstowe?
Photo credit: Paper Films
Northstowe is a new town just north of Cambridge.
There are currently 1400 homes built as part of it’s first phase and in total there will be 10,000 new homes, eight schools, and a town centre.
The town is surrounded by lots of nature, including natural waterparks. It’s also well connected, with good transport links into the centre of Cambridge including the guided busway.
Read more below and on the Northstowe website
Transport connections
Extract from OpenStreetMap. Data licensed under the Open Data Commons Open Database License (ODbL). https://osm.org/go/0EQQ7fS
Getting from and around Northstowe is simple as it's designed with integrated and sustainable transport choices in mind.
Cambridge North Railway Station is 14 minutes away via the Cambridgeshire Guided Busway. As the town grows, new bus routes will be introduced.
Longstanton Park & Ride serves the town and there will be several stops on a new bus route through the town.
The Guided Busway and its adjoining cycleway connect directly to the City of Cambridge and to the market towns of St Ives and Huntingdon to the north.
We believe that it will be a 10 minute walk from our community to a bus stop on the expanded busway.
There is a network of segregated cycleways throughout the town.
What public transport exists now?
Oakington bus stop on the Guided Busway:
30 min walk / 10 min cycle from Suvana site with current infrastructure
27 min bus ride (30 min cycle) to Cambridge Bus Station
14 min bus ride to Cambridge North Station
35 min bus ride to Cambridge Station
Longstanton Park & Ride:
12 min to St. Ives Park & Ride
40 min cycle to Cambridge Bus Station
Photo credit: Paper Films.
What else is being built at Northstowe?
Northstowe is being built in four phases and the first residents were welcomed in 2017.
Phase 1 already has 1400 homes; three schools are open and Northstowe Education Campus is partially completed. There’s a temporary community centre, Western Park Sports Pavilion, lakes and greenways connecting across the town.
Longstanton village is a 15 minute walk away and offers amenities such as a Co-op, post office, pub, hairdressers, children’s nursery.
TOWN’s plot - including that which is earmarked for Suvana - is in Phase 2. This phase also includes plans for a town centre and civic hub (with healthcare services) to be built by Capital&Centric.
The site for Suvana
Extract from OpenStreetMap. Data licensed under the Open Data Commons Open Database License (ODbL).
https://osm.org/go/0EQR4WTD1-?layers=N¬e=4514821
Homes England have a formal partnership for TOWN to develop site “2D1” and outline planning permission has been granted.
TOWN intend to build two cohousing communities on the site: one with Suvana and one for which they are currently recruiting residents.
The codesign process has started, which will lead to a detailed planning application in Spring 2025. All being well construction will start in Autumn 2025 and we can move into our new homes in late 2027.
Read more about the process by visiting TOWN's website. Please note there is no need to register your interest with TOWN, unless you are interested in the other, non-Buddhist community.
If you are interested in Suvana, register with us!
What will we build?
© Mole Architects for TOWN
The plan is that Suvana Cohousing will be built alongside TOWN’s other cohousing community, in the middle of the whole site. It will overlook the greenway and be a couple of minutes walk from a lake.
Suvana will be made up of 30+ houses and flats - plus shared spaces and facilities. These may include a common house with lounge and dining area, meeting room and workshop space, guest rooms, laundry, and shrine room / meditation hall. Outside there’ll be gardens, growing, play area, cycle park and minimal car parking on the edge of the site.
All of this will be according to the community’s needs agreed during the codesign process. And we will design it together in a way that fosters sustainable, community-oriented ways of living.