The scheme is based around the belief that in Suffolk, landscape and sky are paramount, and that the people derive great pleasure from living harmoniously with these two primordial elements. It draws on the Suffolk painterly tradition of Constable and Gainsborough, which emphasises the magical qualities of the sky and landscape. The entire project site, housing and open space, is conceived as a distillation of the evolving Suffolk countryside captured within Elmswell.

Every house within this scheme has a dual role. Each house frames and overlooks a small scale village green and at the same time forms an integral part of a larger picturesque landscape - a new public garden. In this way an affordable housing scheme becomes a fantastic asset for Elmswell. This scheme is a community focussed, picturesque response to an ecological and social brief.