Six examples of the latest generation of UK housing have been rewarded today, with Housing Design Awards at the Royal Institute of British Architects, as part of Architecture Week 2002. The completed schemes range from regeneration projects in Liverpool to social housing in inner-city London. All six demonstrate how exciting living environments can be achieved, in the market and affordable sectors, through the combined efforts of skilled designers, forward-looking developers and bold planning authorities. In addition, seven projects which have yet to be built have won awards.
 
Run jointly by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, The National House-Building Council, the Royal Institute of British Architects and the Royal Town Planning Institute, these annual awards reward new housing developments which not only reflect the highest standards of architectural design, but also developments which make a lasting difference to the quality of the communities they serve. The Housing Design Awards are unique in two respects: they reward all members of the development team - designers, developers, planners and funding agencies; and they reward and follow planned projects through to completion.
 
Speaking at the presentation, Jon Rouse, Chief Executive of the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE) said,
 
'These awards show that, in part, we can design our way out of the current housing crisis. But at present, not only are too few new homes being built too slowly, but many of those which are completed are of low design quality.
 
'The homes that have been singled out for the Housing Design Awards show that it is possible to build attractive new houses at high density on brownfield sites. However, these examples of excellence are currently few and far between. We need to make sure they become the rule and not the exception. Government can help in this by providing incentives to the market and affordable housing providers to build better.'
 
The following have won 2002 Housing Design Awards:
 
COMPLETED SCHEME AWARDS 2002
 
Angell Town, London SW9 Project Award 2000
 
Designer:Burrell Foley Fischer
 
Developer:London Borough of Lambeth
 
Contractor:Higgins Construction
 
Planning Authority: London Borough of Lambeth
 
'Within the houses, a 'lifetime home' specification ensures proper space standards, but there are many other touches, like the above average ceiling heights, the spacious kitchens, and the generous stair landings, which could have only come from a very close architect/client relationship… Here is a community which has rebuilt both itself and its environment hand in hand: a durable and confident statement of faith in its future which is likely to look as fresh and undated in 20 years' time as it does now.'
 
Iroko, London SE1 Project and Regeneration Award 2001
 
Designer:Haworth Tompkins
 
Developer:Coin Street Community Builders
 
Contractor:Mansell
 
Planning Authority: London Borough of Lambeth
 
'This unusual scheme, the result of a limited competition, demonstrates that high density family housing can be perfectly viable in the core of a city, given intelligent design, access to local services and transport, and a proper management framework. It also shows that, with adequate funding, the public
 
sector can equal the very best that the private sector is currently able to offer, generating what must be one of the most enticing places to live in Central London.'
 
Market Lane, London W12 Project Award 1999
 
Designer:Feilden Clegg Bradley
 
Developer:The Peabody Trust
 
Contractor:Ashe Construction
 
Planning Authority: London Borough of Hammersmith and
 
Fulham
 
'Market Lane serves rough sleepers in the Shepherd's Bush area, most of whom have problems with alcohol or drugs. The integration of support organisations and the three stages of rehabilitation, which the building makes possible, is expertly mirrored in the architecture itself: low-key, undemonstrative, beautifully detailed and in no way institutional. There is a quiet assurance to this housing, and a sense of respect stemming from the quality of fittings and finishes, which demonstrably assists in the rebuilding of dignity, and lends a new and positive meaning to the phrase 'secure by design'.'
 
Mile End Road, London E1
 
Designer:Proctor Matthews
 
Developer:Copthorn Homes
 
Contractor:Copthorn Homes
 
Planning Authority: London Borough of Tower Hamlets
 
Mile End Road also wins this year's Building for Life Award, for the best use of a previously developed site. Building for Life is a three year project led by CABE, the House Builders' Federation and the Civic Trust.
 
'This medium-sized scheme of six houses and 59 flats and maisonettes represents a groundbreaking achievement in many ways. At 148 dwellings per hectare this is high density living, and the proximity of a noisy main road makes every scrap of private and semi-private open space extremely precious. In addition, the heterogeneous nature of the Mile End Road frontage makes any insertion very difficult to handle with proper sensitivity, without resorting to bland infill, or aggressive posturing.
 
'The architects have solved both problems by providing a simple frontage block of flats, terminated by a rotunda which neatly responds to the rather flamboyant little building next door, and unified by a pierced terracotta curtain which acts as a privacy screen to the flats…The design quality of the kitchens and bathrooms
 
rivals anything else the Assessors saw this year, as does the storage provision, and the external detailing. It was this consistent approach to every aspect of housing design which finally earned it the accolade of the Building for Life Award.'
 
Preston Point, Liverpool Project Award and Regeneration Award 2000
 
Designer:Shed KM
 
Developer:Maritime Housing Association
 
Contractor:Lowood Construction
 
Planning Authority: Liverpool City Council
 
'Originally two warehouses, it forms part of a triangular block which is being progressively regenerated by Urban Splash and Maritime Housing Association for a mixture of commercial and residential uses…It is a measure of the overall design achievement that there is no discernible difference between the quality of the flats, and that of the two new penthouses for outright sale which top the development. The same meticulous attention to planning and detail runs throughout the building, and the Assessors felt that many of the private developments which they visited could have learned valuable lessons here.'
 
The Point, Bristol
 
Designer:Feilden Clegg Bradley
 
Developer:Crosby Homes (Special Projects)
 
Contractor:Skanska Construction Group
 
Planning Authority: Bristol City Council
 
'At 106 dwellings per hectare, this development of nine houses and 105 flats facing the Floating Harbour is a completely convincing piece of high density urban design… There is a scale, sweep and assurance to this scheme which is all too rarely seen in private developments, and an attention to the quality of design extending from the internal planning, to the treatment of the public realm, which makes it an excellent augury for the future.'
 
PROJECT AWARDS 2002 (as yet unbuilt)
 
Gold Lane, Edgware
 
Designer:Audley English Associates
 
Developer:Notting Hill Housing Trust
 
Contractor:Bulger Developments
 
Planning Authority: London Borough of Barnet
 
Goldsmiths Close, London W3
 
Designer:Arup Associates
 
Developer:Peabody Trust
 
Contractor:Taylor Woodrow Construction
 
Planning Authority: London Borough of Ealing
 
Holloway Circus, Birmingham
 
Designer:Ian Simpson Architects
 
Developer:Beetham Organisation
 
Contractor:Not yet appointed
 
Planning Authority: Birmingham City Council
 
Marmion Mews, London SW11
 
Designer:MMM Architects
 
Developer:London Interspace
 
Contractor:Not yet appointed
 
Planning Authority: London Borough of Wandsworth
 
Newhall, Harlow
 
Designer:Proctor Matthews Architects
 
Developer:Copthorn Homes Ltd
 
Contractor:Copthorn Homes Ltd
 
Planning Authority: Harlow District Council
 
Newhall also wins the Housebuilder Award for the best use of a previously undeveloped site, sponsored by Housebuilder Magazine
 
The Quayside, Newcastle
 
Designer:Stephenson Bell
 
Developer:George Wimpey City
 
Contractor:Not yet appointed
 
Planning Authority: Newcastle Upon Tyne City Council
 
The Woodyard, London SE21
 
Designer:Huf House
 
Developer:Wates Homes
 
Contractor:Huf House and Wates Homes
 
Planning Authority: London Borough of Southwark
 
The judges this year were:
 
Graham Pye (Chair) NHBC
 
Kelvin Campbell RTPI
 
Mehban Chowdery NHBC
 
Mark Cousens ODPM
 
Richard Lavington RIBA
 
David Levitt RIBA
 
Anna McPherson ODPM
 
David Scott RTPI
 
Stephen Mullin (Rapporteur)
 
The award winners will all be displayed with other selected entries in an exhibition which runs at the RIBA from June 21 until August 31.