TESSELLATION PLANNING AND HONEYCOMB HOUSING

Abstract

In honeycomb housing, produced by tessellation planning, small courtyard neighbourhoods of 5 - 16 houses are linked together into cul-de-sac communities of up to 42 houses, which in turn form part of a larger neighbourhood of up to 300 houses. This physical arrangement promotes communal interaction and safety from traffic and crime. The house types used are novel, with wide frontages and every attached house is a corner unit. The compact footprints encourage contour housing. Every house faces a public garden in the centre of the courtyard, accessible for the very young, old and disabled, \Vhere big canopy trees can be planted. Using mathematics, we can prove that substantially less road area is required, which improves both the green and the saleable land area. Densities can also be higher. The tnathematical basis of tessellation planning allowed us to develop prototype software tools that produce pre-drawing' feasibility studies, and following this, rapidly create the layout plan and land-use breakdown.