Wates/RIBA Private Rented Sector Ideas Competition
Our design for rented homes is a new offer – unmatched by conventional volume house builders – of clusters of adaptable homes in a spacious, almost rural setting. Its flexibility and construction efficiency offers new advantages for renters and institutional investors as predicted increases of households materialise.
It offers opportunity to flex the mix of occupancies/density within the same two-storey, built envelopes – ‘dial a density’ – ensuring the scheme can be attuned to location-specific need/market demand and adapted over time. Our layout shows a wide range of densities between 25dph and a more sustainable 50dph and be adapted to suit any site size, shape or context.
Conventional suburbia maximises private space. Our design provides space in radically different ways – a neighbourhood park, communal gardens, allotments and orchards, for recreation and biodiversity. It can also offer retail and workspaces to link with neighbouring communities, encouraging social inclusion.
Metropolitan Workshop was a joint winner of this competition.
Team: Metropolitan Workshop, Sir Richard MacCormac, XCO2 Energy, Lee Mallett, WT Partnership
Collaborators: Peter Studdert
"The Government attaches a great deal of importance to improving the design of homes and neighbourhoods. A core part of the mission is the commitment of both the Government and the Royal Institute of British Architects to building a bigger and better Private Rented Sector to help the country meet its housing needs and to raise standards in the sector. I believe these awards are an invaluable way of recognising and rewarding projects that set the standard for great architecture all across the country."
