Carnival Place

This development of 55 new homes is a key part of Wokingham Borough Council’s community-led carnival regeneration masterplan. Our thoughtful design demonstrates how MMC can deliver sustainable homes, fit for the future.

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Delivering sustainable homes through collaborative design

We conceived Carnival Place in response to Wokingham Borough Council’s ambition to create a new model for community-led development during the climate emergency.

Part of the final phase of the Council’s regeneration masterplan, the highly sustainable new development is a mix of 55 one and two bedroom apartments. It complements the neighbouring Carnival Hub community leisure and library complex, also designed and delivered by HLM.

Together Carnival Place and Carnival Hub are transforming Wokingham’s town centre — bringing people into town, creating jobs and new homes, and improving biodiversity and the local environment.

Homes

Sustainability

Carnival Place demonstrates how a fabric-first approach can deliver exceptional environmental performance.

From the outset, our multidisciplinary team championed Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) alongside Passivhaus principles to maximise the environmental performance and long-term value of the new building.

But achieving these demanding performance standards required detailed coordination across every design discipline: We carefully developed our simple, elegant building design to suit an offsite concrete panel construction system, allowing floor and wall elements to be manufactured with precision before assembly on site.

Our BIM-led design process and technical expertise enabled complex junctions, interfaces and construction details to be fully resolved in 3D, ensuring each offsite manufactured component supported efficient construction.

Sustainability

Carnival Place is a key part of Wokingham’s wider regeneration, delivering high-quality, sustainable homes that support our vision for a thriving town centre. HLM worked collaboratively with our team throughout the project, bringing technical expertise, innovation and a proactive approach that helped turn our ambitions into a deliverable, future-focused development. The result is a scheme that will benefit our community for generations to come.

Sarah Dukes Wokingham Borough Council

Carnival Place, HLM Architects, Homes Architects, Wokingham Borough Council, sustainable homes,

Carnival Place is about much more than delivering new homes. By bringing together offsite construction and thoughtfully designed public spaces, we’ve created a place that supports healthier, lower-carbon living while strengthening connections between people, nature and the wider community.

Simon Gabe Associate

In focus
Landscape

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A new landscaped promenade connects Carnival Place with the wider Carnival regeneration.

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Rain gardens, swales and permeable paving manage surface water, while enhancing biodiversity

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Native planting, species-rich meadows and habitats, bee houses and bird boxes strengthen the site's ecological value.

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Our landscape design balances environmental performance with everyday use. Sustainable drainage systems are fully integrated into the public realm, managing surface water while creating greener, healthier streets. New tree planting, species-rich meadows enhance biodiversity and establish a natural buffer, helping Carnival Place become a resilient, attractive neighbourhood that supports people and wildlife.

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Achieving precision through MMC

The success of Carnival Place lies in the seamless integration of Passivhaus principles with offsite construction. Every structural junction, material interface and building connection was carefully coordinated to maintain airtightness and thermal performance.

By combining digital design expertise with offsite manufacturing, we created a highly efficient residential building that is simpler to construct, performs exceptionally well, and supports our client’s long-term carbon reduction ambitions.