Post-occupancy evaluation: Great Kneighton
Client: Countryside
Project type: Post-occupancy evaluation
Location: Trumpington, South Cambridge
Timeline: May – November 2022
What was the project?
Countryside wanted to understand residents’ lived experience in their development in South Cambridge. They wanted to use resident feedback to identify key strengths and weaknesses of the project to inform their future developments.
Building on the previous pilot of our post-occupancy evaluation service, which we ran in Beaulieu (another Countryside development), Great Kneighton is the first commercial project that we carried out with the developer.
The project aimed to:
- Build on the Resident Review methodology from the pilot
- Gain insights into what residents thought and felt about their neighbourhoods
- Deliver a post-occupancy evaluation review of life for residents in Great Kneighton
- Provide insights and recommendations to build on the success of the Great Kneighton development for future Countryside projects
What was the impact?
Our report to Countryside synthesised key findings and analysis from the Resident Review survey data in Great Kneighton and provided evidence-based recommendations to improve residents’ health, wellbeing and quality of life.
We found that Great Kneighton is a place where residents can enjoy an abundance of green space and nature, easy access to schools and other public buildings within the development, and close proximity to Cambridge city centre making it easy to access other amenities such as restaurants and pubs.
There was a sense of community, thanks to a range of events and projects put on by residents, and 80.3% of surveyed residents felt either Satisfied or Very Satisfied with great Kneighton as a place to live.
Residents also provided valuable insights around the potential for social infrastructure and community cohesion within the development. These learnings will inform future Countryside projects.