Most early houses were terraced, but some semi-detached houses were included. Many houses were prefabricated but they were given traditional finishes, so that it is difficult to distinguish them from the houses that were traditionally built. The houses were relatively plain in that their façades were stripped of decorative features, such as porches or bay windows, although there were some exceptions. Instead decorative value was given via the different treatments of the façade. Many were brick fronted, but different colours and textures of brick lent some variety; others were partly weather-boarded or tile hung.

However, new types of housing, such as maisonettes, meant that distinctive, modern buildings appeared on the estate. Likewise some of the flats looked very different from traditional housing: the horizontal emphasis in some of the blocks led to squat chunky forms with flat roofs, while the two tower blocks, the Evenlode and Windrush Towers, soared over the centre of the estate and became a symbol of its modernity.