A new housing development in Croydon has won a national design award.

The first phase of the Cane Hill Park development by Barratt and David Wilson Homes, near Coulsdon, was one of just 16 winners nationwide at the Housing Design Awards, picking up the Graham Pye Award for the most family friendly plans.

The development comprises 187 two and three-storey townhouses.

Cane Hill Park was built on land which has been unused since the closure of the Cane Hill hospital 25 years ago.

The hospital was acquired from the Department of Health in 2005 and the site was transferred to GLA Land and Property in 2012.

Adam Tillion, regional technical director, for Cane Hill Park said: “after years of hard work, this is a special achievement for us here at Cane Hill Park and we’re really pleased to see the innovative design of this unique development pick up this highly sought-after award."

“We must also thank the GLA for their input to this fantastic site which has been instrumental to the considerable success of Cane Hill Park, including the rich palettes, textures and materials used to design these unique homes. The scheme has also benefitted from involvement from the London Borough of Croydon, many local businesses and community stakeholders – so everyone should be very proud of this win for Coulsdon.

“Working on a site such as this is not always easy and I'm particularly proud that we have managed to implement a design that not only fulfils the unique requirements of the site but also creates an environment that helps a family to thrive.”

The award judges were impressed by the high quality of both the external and internal design, particularly the use of space and natural light of the three, four and five-bedroom family homes.

A further 490 properties are set to be built at Cane Hill in the next phases of the development.