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Preston Social Housing Competition

Guild 2012 Contest, northwest England, UK – Architecture

21 Jan 2010

Preston Housing Competition

Gateway goes for Guild Social Housing, Preston – winner announced

RCKarchitects has been selected as the winner of the Gateway goes for Guild Social Housing competition. They will work with Community Gateways, Preston’s largest housing association to deliver a social housing development in Preston city for occupation in 2012, to coincide with and celebrate Preston Guild 2012.

Preston Guild is a famous and unique celebration with more than 800 years of tradition. The Guild dates back to the granting of Preston’s first Charter by King Henry in 1179. Linking the city’s glorious heritage and past with its ambitions for the future, the Guild is Preston’s most important and historic event and is held every 20 years. The next Guild is in 2012 with the theme of “Innovation and Creativity”.

Launched in September 2009, the competition invited Architects to develop innovative design proposals for a social housing development in the centre of Preston, where people would aspire to live. The winning scheme, with an emphasis on design quality and energy efficiency, was to be a project demonstrating that affordable does not equate to ordinary, and act as an exemplar for future social housing developments in Preston and elsewhere.

The competition attracted seventy four entries to the anonymous open first stage from which a short list of four teams were invited to attend an interview to expand on their first stage submission and discuss their working methods with members of the Assessment Panel. The other teams selected to take part in the interview stage were:

Conran & Partners, London
KOSI Architects, Chichester
Original Field of Architecture, Oxford

In selecting RCKarchitects the Jury Panel had the following comments to make:

This was a good team presentation from a Practice that has relevant experience of housing in the Region and a good balance of skills and past track record of working with RSL’s. The two lead Architects both fit the ethos of Community Gateway and the local community and gave a clear indication that they would listen to the local residents and be comfortable working with them. The presentation was very sincere and the team gave the impression that this would be a special project for them.

The Panel especially liked the focus on using local consultants and constructors, and the opportunities that the latter would afford for young people in the area to gain apprenticeships and employment. The house plans were well designed and suitable for the BME community, and the team had obviously got a good grasp of the site which was reflected in a well presented analysis. The issue of parking was handled ingeniously by bringing the cars into the garden spaces.

Dave Warlow, Community Gateways said: ”Throughout the Gateway Goes for Guild competition we have been overwhelmed by the responses and the quality of the submissions sent to us. RCKa have, with their proposal shown a thorough understanding of what CGA was looking for in this project. We look forward to working with them and local residents over the coming months.

We would also like to thank RIBA for co-ordinating the competition, helping CGA contribute towards what should be a Preston Guild to remember in 2012.

Councillor Ken Hudson, Leader of the Council and Chair of the Guild Committee said: “This is a great idea and we are delighted that Community Gateway are creating a lasting legacy for the 2012 Guild. This is an important national project and there has been interest from right around the World. New, affordable housing is very much needed in Preston and these new homes will include the very latest in design and energy efficiency. It’s very exciting and we can’t wait to see the final designs.”

Preston Guild 2012 Competition : Shortlist

19 Nov 2009

Gateway goes for Guild Social Housing, Preston – Shortlist announced

Community Gateway Association, Preston’s largest housing association has announced the names of the 4 shortlisted teams in the competition to design a social housing development in Preston city centre, anticipated to be built and occupied to coincide with and celebrate Preston Guild 2012.

Architects were invited to develop innovative design proposals for a social housing development in the centre of Preston, where people would aspire to live. The winning scheme, with an emphasis on design quality and energy efficiency, was to be a project demonstrating that affordable does not equate to ordinary, and act as an exemplar for future social housing developments in Preston and elsewhere.

74 first stage entries were received and included submissions from Japan, Hong Kong, Italy, Greece, Portugal, France, Serbia, and the Netherlands.

Preston Guild 2012 Competition Shortlist:

– Conran & Partners, London
– KOSI Architects, Chichester
– Original Field of Architecture, Oxford
– RCKarchitects, London

Each of the shortlist will attend a final interview on the 8th December and discuss with the assessment panel their proposals. Each of these teams will receive an honorarium of £3,000.

Preston Housing Competition Shortlist Architects information from RIBA

2 Sep 2009

Preston Guild 2012 Competition : Social Housing

Community Gateway Association is celebrating Preston Guild 2012 with a competition to design an exciting social housing scheme in the city centre.

Community Gateway Association, as the largest housing association in Preston, and working in partnership with Preston City Council, is keen to be involved and is sponsoring this architectural competition with the aim, subject to funding availability, to have a winning scheme built and occupied by the time of the main Guild events in mid-2012.

Architects are invited to develop innovative design proposals for a social housing development in the centre of Preston, where people will aspire to live. The winning scheme, with an emphasis on design quality and energy efficiency, will be a project demonstrating that affordable does not equate to ordinary, and should act as an exemplar for future social housing developments in Preston and elsewhere.

The Selection will take the form of a two stage process, which at stage one will involve teams submitted design ideas on a single A1 design board. Up to four teams will be short-listed and invited to attend an interview to expand on their first stage submission. Each of these teams will receive an honorarium of £3,000.

An online brief available on the website www.gatewaygoesforguild.com from 2nd September.

Preston Guild 2012 Competition information from RIBA 020909

Location: Preston, Lancashire, Northwest England, UK