Mill Green Village

Mill Green is a complex site. It comprises listed buildings, Green Belt land, river flood plain of and sits beside a major road artery running across central Hertfordshire. The proposals to restore the pub and revitalise the hamlet had to accord with the historic environment, to prove exceptional circumstances to overcome a presumption against development, and incorporate designs that respond to environment, location and topography (including, for example, MVHR systems to respond to the A414).

The Mill Green project has been deeply collaborative from the start. It emerged from a request to the Estate from the community to save the Green Man Pub. This opened the conversation: how might we viably preserve the pub whilst bringing more life into Mill Green, and improving the local environment?
This led to the 2011 Mill Green Charrette: bringing all stakeholders into the design process immediately and setting the groundwork for collaborative, open and transparent communication.
The consultative, engaged approach with the community sought to include all voices. The Charrette was hosted at the Mill Green Museum and Mill who, given its key role in local education, is a key stakeholder in the redevelopment of the community, preserving and disseminating local knowledge of ancient milling technology.
This in particular led to a choice of three different house types to meet differing local needs and the cast-iron focus on delivery of a renovated and revitalised Pub.
This strong community involvement meant the scheme was supported unanimously at planning, a remarkable outcome for a Hertfordshire project within the Green Belt.

In delivering on these proposals, not only has the team revitalised a small and historic community but done so in a way which surpasses current UK government regulations on sustainability, incorporating air source heat pumps and insulation standards while focussing on local material procurement.
All housing was developed from the Hatfield Housing Lexicon. This has been developed over fifteen years by Gascoyne Estate, has been tried and tested in other sites across Old Hatfield and Gascoyne’s land holdings and combines vernacular architecture requested by local communities with 21st century standards and technologies.

Landscape designs reinstated a village green on the western edge, and a meadow providing access to the river to the east. Planting of locally native species encourages local wildlife. Beech hedging and estate fencing ties the designs together, linking it to both the historic towns of Welwyn Garden City and Hatfield as well as the adjacent Hatfield Park.

This project was a stepping stone to refurbishing the Old Forge in Mill Green. This is a planning-approved commercial development adjacent to the Green Man Pub. This is included to bring employment space and key jobs into the area and safeguarding the longer-term revitalisation of the hamlet. The Pub development has not yet been completed: planning includes approval for a microbrewery in the future.

Mill Green Village has been shortlisted for the RICS Awards 2024 (East of England) in both community benefit and residential categories.