Urban Housing Competition, 2001

Client: Circle 33 Housing Association
Engineer: Techniker

Circle 33's competition brief was to design a radical new concept of living through affordable homes for young, first time buyers/tenants. The London site is a disused plot surrounded by a dense fabric of 1960s towers with little communal outdoor space.
The proposal plants a residential urban 'forest' - a respite within the crowded urban development. The scheme introduces 3 communal elements on the forest's corners - a pub, a gym/juice bar, & a small Internet deliver shop. A social benefit of the scheme includes a resident nurse for young families & elderly residents.
The total density is 50units/hect, a figure well above the governments current minimum requirements under the new housing act. This density is achieved at no expense to the residents who live in a combination of "normal" homes, live-work units, and one communal residence, based on the concepts of the Isokon flats by Wells Coates in Belsize Park.