NEW URBANISM AT WINDSOR
Master-planned by renowned architects and town planners Andrés Duany and Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, Windsor has been recognized as a highly influential New Urbanist community in the United States. New Urbanism is an approach to planning that creates walkable, human-scaled communities integrating homes, civic spaces, amenities and green spaces.
A Village by the Sea
When W. Galen and Hilary Weston established Windsor in the early 1990s, they sought out Andrés Duany and Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk to give form to their vision of an elegant private seaside village. Founders of DPZ CoDesign and co-founders of the Congress for the New Urbanism, Duany and Plater-Zyberk designed a master plan shaped by Windsor’s idyllic setting between the Atlantic Ocean and the Indian River in Vero Beach, Florida, and rooted in the principles of New Urbanism.
The Master Plan
Like the European villages that inspire it, Windsor’s New Urbanist master plan considers the community holistically, establishing the relationship between private residences, landscape, civic spaces and amenities. Intimately scaled, tree-lined streets encourage walking and cycling, while village greens, parks and gathering places create a convivial public realm. Residences of varying types and sizes are thoughtfully positioned within this framework, allowing the built and natural environments to work together as parts of a coherent and enduring whole.
ANGLO-CARIBBEAN DESIGN
Windsor’s signature Anglo-Caribbean design code creates visual harmony while allowing individual homes to have their own character. Drawing on historic building traditions of Charleston, Savannah and the British West Indies, the architecture includes steeply pitched roofs, open eaves, balconies, courtyards and single-room depths. These features respond naturally to the region’s subtropical climate, bringing air and light into homes while creating areas of shade and encouraging seamless indoor-outdoor living.
DESIGNED FOR WELLBEING
New Urbanism elevates the quality of everyday life with thoughtful design. At Windsor, green spaces and proximity to amenities via pathways for pedestrians, bikes, golf carts and horses facilitate an active and sociable lifestyle. These same elements support a more sustainable approach to development, complemented by climate-responsive architecture and a landscape shaped by Windsor’s barrier island setting.
COMMUNITY AND PRIVACY
A hallmark of Windsor is the effortless balance of community and privacy it offers to Members. Streets, pathways and green spaces as well as the Village Centre combine to make informal encounters a natural part of daily life, while the carefully composed master plan and architectural code ensure that residences – most with courtyards and gardens – provide secluded worlds within the larger community.
CIVIC ARCHITECTURE AND THE PUBLIC REALM
Civic spaces play an important role in establishing the identity of a community. At Windsor, the Village Centre by architect Scott Merrill and the Town Hall by architectural and urban theorist Léon Krier serve both as visual landmarks and community gathering places. Positioned at the heart of Windsor, they host concerts, talks, special events and important private celebrations such as weddings.
A TRADITION OF ARCHITECTURAL EXCELLENCE
Residential and civic architecture at Windsor has been featured in prestigious design and lifestyle publications and received critical acclaim, demonstrating how a disciplined design code can both preserve a strong sense of place and encourage individual expression. Léon Krier, Scott Merrill, Hugh Newell Jacobsen, Clem Schaub and Peter Moor are among the distinguished architects who have designed civic buildings and private residences at Windsor.
“New Urbanism has not evolved so much since Windsor, it has evolved towards Windsor.”
– Andrés Duany
ACCLAIM AND RECOGNITION
Windsor has earned recognition for both its New Urbanist planning and architecture. The Windsor Town Centre received a national AIA Urban Design Award in 2000, while individual residences have received honors from the AIA, the Institute of Classical Architecture & Art and the Palladio Awards. The ICAA described Windsor as a “highly influential New Urbanist town,” recognizing W. Galen and Hilary Weston with its 2022 Addison Mizner Medal for Patronage for their contributions to traditional architecture and urbanism.
NEW URBANISM IN THE NORTH VILLAGE
The North Village extends Windsor’s master plan to encompass 47 adjacent acres, evolving its New Urbanist principles with an increased emphasis on sustainability. DPZ CoDesign returned to shape this final phase of Windsor, working closely with specialists in sustainable landscape design. New residences are set among extensive green spaces and amenities include scenic trails, boardwalks and observation decks. An updated residential code allows for a more contemporary expression of Windsor’s iconic Anglo-Caribbean architecture while incorporating sustainable building practices.
