Think of a typical new urban housing development. Do you see a tower of concrete and glass with a tacked-on section of “eco” cedar cladding? A regiment of low-rise Lego-blocks with balconies in shades of pastel plastic? It probably doesn't involve delicately carved stonework or any form of ornamentation that might popularly be considered attractive.

One man who challenges the received norms of contemporary architectural fashion, which deplores anything so crass as decoration, is Robert Adam, described in the Oxford Dictionary of Architecture as “no dry respecter of canonical buildings, he has argued that Classicism is accessible...and is capable of continuous evolution.” His willingness to draw on traditional styles makes him unusual in a profession dominated by the Modernist movement, whose best-known evangelists are Lord Rogers of Riverside, designer of the Pompidou Centre, the Millennium Dome and Heathrow's Terminal 5, and Lord Foster of Thames Bank, originator of Stansted, London's City Hall and the Gherkin.

Yet not every developer of a block of flats assumes that aggressively functional designs are what buyers want. Millgate Homes has commissioned Adam to design a new development of 51 “traditional” flats in the grounds of a GradeI listed mansion, Sundridge Park, in Bromley, Kent. Jonathan Cranley, director of Millgate Homes, approached Adam after

rejecting the existing planning consent for, in Adam's words, “something that looked like a university campus”, and opting for a building “more in keeping with the site”. Cranley says: “We love the Classical style - it would be wrong to do chrome and glass here. It's a time-honoured style that will last. Contemporary might not look great in a few years' time.”

Sundridge Park was built by John Nash, architect of Regent Street, Buckingham Palace and the Brighton Pavilion. Commissioned in 1797 by Claude Scott, the founder of Nat West bank, it was later visited by Edward VII while Prince of Wales, and by Napoleon III, who was living up the road in Chislehurst after being deposed as Emperor of France. It has been used as a conference venue since 1955.

The mansion makes a superbly handsome backdrop to Adam's new development. The two and three-bedroom flats will be arranged over five buildings set in two rows and linked by eight townhouses to form a courtyard. The townhouses range from three to five bedrooms and from £1.17 million to £1.51 million, and the flats range from £675,000 to £1.4 million, with the most expensive overlooking restored landscaped terraces originally designed by Humphry Repton in the early 1800s.

A Grade II listed coach-house is being restored by Adam and split into four three-bed and one five-bed vertical units with private gardens behind. Prices range from £725,000 to £1.145 million. Residents will have exclusive use of a free spa with pool, gym and tennis court, plus the services of a porter. The service charge will be up to £8,000 a year.

Buyers here will also live in a 275- acre park that includes two 18-hole golf courses. The idea is “a country park feel, only nine miles from Canary Wharf”, says Cranley, who expects interest from “downsizers who spend part of the year in their homes in the South of France or Barbados, and City workers, because of the great transport.” Victoria is 20 minutes by train from Bromley South; services from nearby Sundridge Park are less frequent but reach London Bridge in under half an hour.

Adam's detractors have called his work historical pastiche, but he believes his design for Sundridge Park to be an original take on a timeless style: “It's Classical with columns and all that, but used in an innovative way - for example, we developed a narrow column that existed in the past but we've used it in a way which is unusual. You get the feeling that this is modern while also being traditional.”

It might be assumed that developers prefer contemporary buildings to traditional ones because they are cheaper. Not so, says Adam. “Modernist buildings are very expensive because of all the glass and cedar. A lot of cedar cladding is already ageing very badly and it's become the most grinding cliché. Traditional buildings are cheaper, more durable and certainly more popular.”

Adam resents the public being dictated to by what he sees as an arrogant clique of architects. “We know from endless research that people prefer traditional buildings. But when developers go to an architect to design their block of flats, 99 per cent of the time they'll end up with a Modernist building. Architects' panels in local authorities will not approve designs for traditional buildings. The whole thing is a terrible betrayal of public taste.”

sundridge-park.co.uk , 01732 789757 or Savills , 01732 789700

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