New group-build housing concept wins architectural prize
LOS ANGELES: A major multigenerational group-build housing concept has won a significant architectural prize.
Mole – which proposed a zero-carbon community homebuilding system – was up against a mixed-tenure Garden City-style housing concept drawn up by Greenspace Architects and a community green hub toolkit devised by Optimised Environments in the contest for the William Sutton Prize for Sustainability and Placemaking. Optimised Environments received a £5,000 highly commended prize.
Mole’s Home Made system is designed to support the development of group-build community housing. It sets out a step-by-step approach from land purchase to completed building, facilitating community-led housing and tackling associated barriers with the aim of enabling greater numbers of people to come together to build their own homes.
Mole hopes to use the £20,000 prize fund to contribute towards the development of an illustrated document and website, forming a toolkit that sets out the approach to engage landowners, local authorities, politicians, and future residents. It will also help fund initial design work on a modular housing system, comprising a building system and engagement model.
The competition, now in its fourth year, sought ‘groundbreaking’ proposals that could make a positive social impact on an existing community. It was open to English organisations and all UK individuals aged over 18.
Its two awards – the William Sutton Prize for Social Innovation and the newly rebranded William Sutton Prize for Sustainability and Placemaking – are named after Clarion Housing Group’s founder, a Victorian entrepreneur who bequeathed his fortune to providing public housing. Each offers a £20,000 top prize.
Last year’s prize for placemaking and affordable housing design was won by AJ 40 under 40 star and emerging practice Surman Weston, whose Hackney School of Food created a ‘seed-to-spoon’ food education hub for primary school children within an old building and area of disused land.
The 2019 award was won by AJ 40 under 40 practice Jas Bhalla Architects – founded by former KPF and Adjaye Associates employee Jas Bhalla in November 2017 – which received £20,000 for its proposal to transform nine main roads in outer London into dense, urban streets. Bhalla was one of the judges for this year’s prize.
Mole founding director Meredith Bowles said: ‘At Mole Architects, we’re committed to making this project happen no matter what, but winning the William Sutton Prize means that we can focus proper time and energy, which will give it a much greater chance of success.
‘We’d noticed the William Sutton Prize each year it’s happened, and have admired the ethos behind it as much as the fantastic schemes. It fits our aspirations as a practice perfectly and we’re excited to have the opportunity to trial our winning project on one of Clarion’s upcoming development sites.’
Clarion’s chief executive Clare Miller said: ‘I’m delighted that we will be supporting Mole Architects and Optimised Environments through the William Sutton Prize. Our winners are inspiring and innovative projects that have the potential to change lives, and that’s what the prize is all about.
‘Not only will the winning teams receive financial support, but we’ll also be working with them to offer guidance and expertise to help turn their bright ideas into reality. Mole Architects’ proposal will be trialled on a future development site and we’re excited to see how it can help support community-led housing at scale.’
Bhalla said: ‘It was an absolute pleasure judging this year’s William Sutton Prize for Sustainability and Placemaking. We were overwhelmed by the creativity and variety of the shortlist. Combining innovation with a focus on delivery, Mole Architects’ Home Made project was the standout entry.
‘The project builds upon the team’s growing expertise in group-build to explore ways of delivering new forms of community housing across the country. Given the importance of diversifying the types of new homes brought forward, Home Made offers an exciting proposition to create new housing focused on the specific needs of a particular community.’
Clarion Housing Group formed six years ago following a merger of Circle Housing Group and Affinity Sutton, which was founded after Sutton’s death in 1900. The housing association is today the largest in the UK, managing 125,000 homes across 170 local authorities.
Sutton was born in the City of London in 1833 and created Sutton Carriers, the country’s first door-to-door parcel service. He bequeathed his entire fortune to a range of charitable projects including providing much-needed public housing across the capital.
The two awards celebrate excellence in social entrepreneurship and social housing design. The first prize focuses on concepts, services or products intended to make a positive social impact on a community while the second focuses on delivering sustainable and successful communities, sustainable architecture and construction, energy efficiency and innovations in promoting biodiversity and green living.
The entries were judged by Bhalla; Miller; Alastair Mant, director of business transformation at the UK Green Building Council; Matthew Morgan, director of the Quality of Life Foundation; and Richard Cook, group development director of Clarion.
Hill Patru Architects – formerly known as Adrian Hill Architects – was shortlisted for The William Sutton Prize for Social Innovation for its Two Front Doors concept for intergenerational living. The overall winner was Pride of Place Living, a multigenerational, life-long and inclusive living concept for LGBTQ+ people in Leeds.