The Cockaigne Housing Group was originally the idea of Michael Baily, a
journalist at The Times. Inspired by the communal housing projects
created in Scandinavia, which he had learnt about from his Danish wife,
Baily decided to create a similar set-up of his own. In 1962 he placed
an advert in The Times seeking support for his project and the response
was positive enough for him to put his plan into action.

Later
that year, Baily visited the Ideal Home Exhibition in London where he
met the architects Peter Randall and David Parkes, both of whom had
worked on an ‘adaptable house’ that had gained a lot of attention at
the show. Baily soon decided that these were the men that he wanted
working on his project. At around about the same time, he also managed
to persuade the Hatfield Development Corporation to give over a parcel
of land on a long-term lease.

In 1963, the project was
underway with Peter Phippen now also on the design team (the Cockaigne
houses were the first commission of the firm Phippen, Randall and
Parkes, which exists to this day). A staggered terrace of 28 houses was
constructed over the course of the next three years, with plenty of
space given over to communal gardens. All houses have a deep plan,
built with narrow frontage party walls. Accommodation is arranged
around a series of enclosed courtyards oriented to allow sunlight and
natural ventilation into the interior. Between the fair-faced block-work party walls the structure is timber-framed with Colombian Pine
joinery and cladding, with full-height windows and doors opening onto the
courtyards and gardens. The designs were thoroughly researched from
every angle – studies were undertaken of the local light, construction
techniques and even the behaviour of the potential users.

Various
architectural precedents have been cited, including Chermayeff and
Alexander’s work at Newhaven, Connecticut, as well as Meyer and
Hilberseimer’s studies for courtyard houses completed at the Bauhaus.
Le Corbusier’s ideas for communal living also provided inspiration.
Peter Randall himself has described the rigorous construction of the
houses as “earthy and pragmatic”.

When deciding on a name for
his housing scheme, Baily chose the word ‘Cockaigne’. Deriving from
Middle English word ‘cokaygne’, its meaning relates to a mythical
medieval land of plenty.

On completion, the development was
awarded an Architectural Design Project Award in 1964 and also a
Housing Design Award in 1967. In 2006, the scheme was also named as the
‘Historic Winner’ of a further Housing Design Award. The judges
described the houses as having “enduring appeal” and said: “to move through [a Cockaigne house] is to encounter a perfectly
judged series of interlinked spaces which flow naturally one into
another”.