Home wins national housing design award

Affordable housing provider, Home, has won a prestigious national housing design award for a groundbreaking new development in rural Cambridgeshire.

At a ceremony in Whitehall, London, the organisation’s Hereward Hall scheme in the village of March was one of just four developments (from a short-list of 22) to be named a winner in completed scheme category of the 2009 Housing Design Awards.

Promoted by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, the National House-Building Council, the Royal Institute of British Architects and the Royal Town Planning Institute, the awards recognise excellence in house building design.

Summing up the scheme the award judges said: “The scheme is all new but very familiar, which fits comfortable.”

Hereward Hall is one of three sites (two in March and one in Chatteris) that is part of the SmartLIFE scheme, a unique initiative involving an international not-for-profit business partnership dedicated to creating sustainable communities.

As part of this, every step of the construction process was closely monitored by the Building Research Establishment to record issues such as build speed, and quality and energy efficiency.

In total, 106 affordable homes have been built the villages of March and Chatteris in Fenland, Cambridgeshire. The scheme comprises homes for rent, shared ownership scheme and open market sale.

Jonathan Higgs, Managing Director of Home's South region, said: ‘Along with our architects Proctor and Matthews and our contractors Inspace we have delivered a truly pioneering scheme that will not only help shape future housing developments in the UK but has also now been recognised for its excellence in design.”

This is Home’s third awards success in recent months. The organisation won Procurement Team of the Year in the 2009 Housing Heroes Awards and its Scottish arm, Home Scotland, won Large Housing Association of the Year in the 2009 Scottish Home Awards.