Schemes by Stride Treglown Architects, Rolfe Judd Architects and Mike Lapworth Architects win Gold at the Building for Life awards

Three housing schemes in Somerset, Worcestershire and London have been awarded Gold in Cabe’s Building for Life Awards. A further six schemes achieved Cabe’s silver standard.

The winners were Chase Homes’ The Russels in Worcestershire by Mike Lapworth Architects; South West Eco Homes’ Great Bow Yard in Somerset by Treglown Architects and Berkeley Homes’ Empire Square in London by Rolfe Judd Architects.

Judges said The Russells was “a great piece of urbanism” and praised its “flexible meeting space.” The Great Bow Yard in Somerset was hailed as “a healthy place with healthy material” while Empire Square was praised for having “absolutely fantastic” specification.

The awards are designed to highlight the Building for Life criteria, which Cabe says will ensure high housing design standards.

The silver standard winners were:

  • Waterstone Park, Greenhithe, Kent
  • Visage and Swiss Cottage Cultural Centre, Swiss Cottage, London
  • The Village, St Austell, Cornwall
  • The Manor, Lower Earley, Reading
  • St James Homes and John Thompson & Partners
  • Allerton Bywater (Area 3B), West Yorkshire
  • Upton (Phase 1, SiteA), Northampton

CABE is calling the government to make Building for Life a national standard against which design quality is measured in the planning system.

English Partnerships, the Housing Corporation and some local authorities already use the standard and will give planning approval if the criteria is met.

Wayne Hemingway, chair of Building for Life, said: “We have got to stop building the slums of tomorrow. Making Building for Life a benchmark standard in the planning process will mean that over seven million people could live in homes and neighbourhoods which they can be proud of.”

Project teams of Building for Life winners

Gold winners

  • The Russels, Broadway Worcestershire
    Chase Homes, Evesham and Pershore Housing Association, and Lapworth Partnership.
  • Great Bow Yard, Langport, Somerset
    South West Eco Homes and Stride Treglown
  • Empire Square, Southwark, London
    Berkeley Homes and Rolfe Judd Architects

    Silver winners

  • Waterstone Park, Greenhithe, Kent
    Countryside Properties, Land Securities and Gardner Stewart Architects
  • Visage and Swiss Cottage Cultural Centre, Swiss Cottage, London
    Barratt, Dawnay Day. S&P Architects and Terry Farrell Architects
  • The Village, St Austell, Cornwall
    Westco Properties, Restormel Borough Council and Midas Homes
  • The Manor, Lower Earley, Reading
    St James Homes and John Thompson & Partners
  • Allerton Bywater (Area 3B), West Yorkshire
    English Partnerships, Fleming Fusion and PRP Architects
  • Upton (Phase 1, SiteA), Northampton
    English Partnerships, Paul Newman Homes and EDAW

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