Leading placemaking developer Comer Homes has commenced preparation works on the c.21-acre former ICI Research Station site in Fernhurst, West Sussex. The developer is set to clear overgrowth and debris from the current land and remaining buildings, which will see some of the original structures restored and repurposed as part of an impressive mixed-use site.

The comprehensive development will comprise a collection of 210 houses and apartments, of which 20% will be affordable, 233 sqm. of café, retail and community space, as well as commercial units and significant green space.

Adjacent to the current headquarters of luxury fashion brand Aspinall of London, the development is set to be highly sustainable, with a selection of current parks, water courses and green spaces to be recultivated and restored. This includes mixed planted gardens that were in place for employee use during the time the research centre was operational, such as feature Japanese and Scandinavian gardens.

The homes and mixed-use spaces will be highly sustainable, utilising the latest construction methods to reduce onsite and carbon emissions during construction, as well as being as energy efficient as possible once completed. Comer Homes will also be restoring areas of woodland that borders the site and sits within the South Downs National Park.

Brian Comer, Chairman and Co-Founder of Comer Homes, said: “This is an exciting project for the Comer Homes Group and one that we’re looking forward to getting started on. There is a lot of pre-commencement work to do to get the site and the retained buildings cleared to a standard that will allow us to begin the development process properly.

“Restoring and reconfiguring historic buildings can be complex, but we are specialists in this field and look forward to getting started, with plans to launch the sales of the homes and commercial/retail spaces to the market in 2024.”

The former ICI building was once a crop protection chemical research facility, primarily for the fruit industry. The core objective of the centre was to investigate pest and disease control in horticultural crops, as well as being an administrative site.

The site comprised multiple buildings, including a pyramid shaped office block, a 60-acre orchard, which included 9 acres of plums and 26 acres of dessert apples at Hurstfold Farm.

Throughout its history, indoor and outdoor crops were grown for wholesale and for research, whilst the facility developed advanced growing and application methods for crops that helped to advance UK farming, whilst informing and educating international agricultural businesses.

Agricultural firm Syngenta purchased the site as its main headquarters in the late 1990s until the early 2000s when the facility ceased operations as a research centre. The site was unoccupied and had fallen into severe disrepair at the time Comer Homes purchased it in August 2003. Planning was granted to redevelop the site by South Downs National Park Authority in October 2020.