A planned community in East Ayrshire, Knockroon forms a northwestern extension of Cumnock, overlooking the Lugar Water a mile (1.5 km) southeast of Auchinleck.
As part of the bid to purchase of Dumfries House for the nation, led by HRH Prince Charles, Duke of Rothesay, the Prince's Foundation developed a plan to build a sustainable community on land around Knockroon Farm on the edge of the estate. The Prince wanted a well-designed community, with the best quality housing and including shops, schools and small businesses, as part of a vision for heritage-led regeneration of a deprived former mining area. The development received initial planning permission in 2009 and envisaged 770 houses being built over a 25-year period, 330 of which were to have been built by 2017. A foundation stone was unveiled by HRH Prince Charles, Duke of Rothesay, on 31st May 2011.
Following the model of traditional architecture adopted by the Prince's Trust in their experimental development at Poundbury in Dorset, the design of buildings draws on the 18th / early 19th C. domestic architecture of Ayrshire and is the work of Scottish architect Lachlan Stewart and London-based designer Ben Pentreath.
Knockroon was awarded Scottish Sustainable Community status by the Scottish Government and the first phase of mixed-use development was completed in 2014, involving just 31 homes, constructed by local builder Hope Homes and ZeroC, based in Poundbury. Development subsequently stalled as a consequence of a downturn in the housing market, with questions asked as to whether this was a good location for relatively expensive housing. Affordable and social housing has yet to be built (2017).
East Ayrshire Council plan to open a £63-million 'super-school' at Knockroon in 2019.
