The Suffolk Police headquarters was a purpose-built campus dating back to the 1980s, which had been developed on land acquired from the Bradford Trust, the developers of the low-density Martlesham Heath Village immediately to the south.

Despite being located on the site of Martlesham Heath Airfield, the area was well-vegetated from a mixture of planting and natural regeneration. After the authority’s review of its requirements, a police investigation centre was placed on 1.5 hectares of land to the east of its main campus. Following this, our masterplanning experts were commissioned to investigate the capacity of the remaining 10.5-hectare site and consider if the constabulary should be relocated elsewhere. The secure site falls into three parts: the main orthogonal campus in the east; a central recreational open space area; and an area of woodland and scrub in the west. All parts are relatively well screened by tree and shrub planting.

Our experts developed a masterplan which:

• Achieves up to 300 dwellings at variable densities
• Develops a range of one to five-bedroom units, of which 33% are affordable
• Retains important trees and open spaces
• Protects and enhances areas of wildlife interest