RCKa Blog » 0934

Public Participation for Preston Housing Scheme

russellcurtis — Fri, 14 May 2010 15:26:54 +0000

We’ve been running a few public participation events over the last few weeks at which ideas for the redevelopment of the Meadow Street site in Preston were discussed.
In the first session we discussed principles of urban design with local residents, establishing important routes through and around the site itself, together with key views and responses to streetscape.
The second session concentrated on the development of the houses themselves, with particular attention being paid to the specific needs of the community. We also discussed the arrangement of external amenity spaces, security and car parking, and the influence that these things make on the layout of the scheme.
We’re working closely with Community Gateway Association on developing the proposals, and are expecting to submit a full planning application later in the summer.

RCKa win Preston Housing Competition

russellcurtis — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 16:00:26 +0000

We’re delighted to announce that we’ve won the prestigious Gateway Goes for Guild housing competition.

Run by the RIBA Competitions Office for Community Gateway Association, the competition attracted 74 entries, and the shortlist of four was announced in November last year.

Our winning scheme, comprising 14 new houses on a tight urban site to the north-east of Preston’s city centre, contains a mix of different unit sizes, with an innovative parking solution allowing an unbroken elevation to the southern boundary, and mews houses along a homezone to the north.

Dave Warlow, Community Gateway Association, said:

Throughout the Gateway Goes for Guild competition we have been overwhelmed by the responses and the quality of the submissions sent to us [74 entries].

RCKa have, with their proposal shown a thorough understanding of what we were looking for in this project.

Judges’ comment on RCKa’s proposals

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 Registered Social Landlords. 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.

Links:

Architects’ Journal, 21 January 2010 (subscription required)
RCKa project page
Community Gateway Association
RIBA Competitions Office

RCKa Shortlisted for Preston International Design Competition

russellcurtis — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 08:00:34 +0000

We’ve been shortlisted for our entry in the Gateway Goes for Guild international design competition. Four teams have made it through to the final round from 74 submissions.

Our proposal provides a range of house types, including eight four-bed, four three-bed houses and two bungalows on a tight urban site close to a sensitive conservation area. The scheme provides a new shared-surface homezone at the rear of the development linking through to the St. Ignatius’ Church, whilst maintaining a strong street frontage along Meadow Street and St. Paul’s Road.

Interviews to determine the winning team will be held in Preston next month.

Links:

RIBA Competitions Office Press Release:

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.
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’.
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. The four shortlisted teams in alphabetical order are:

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.