Duggan Morris Architects were selected as winners in the competition to design an innovative co-living development in the Forest Gate area of Newham in east London, UK

Co-living in cities is where residents live in a state of interdependence. While maintaining some privacy, they share space, amenities, and services, to maximise resource efficiency and reduce costs. They often have a high-level of involvement in the operation and management of the co-living space.

Co-Living provides an innovative way to create homes, which are affordable and promote a strong sense of community. The brief has yielded some truly imaginative designs from all the competitors, which are also sensitive to their urban setting. Faced with so many great ideas, choosing a winner has been a truly challenging task.

'In the end the scheme produced by Duggan Morris was selected for its flexibility, durability and the quality of the communal environment, designed around a spacious and well-proportioned central courtyard. They showed great commitment to the cause of co-living and obvious drive for realising this exciting project, and the jury recognised that these are attributes which will be essential in the next stage of its delivery.'
Hugh Broughton, the RIBA Adviser

Duggan Morris fought off strong competition from the other four shortlisted teams who were:

• Architype
• Delvendahl Martin Architects
• Knox Bhavan Architects
• vPPR Architects