Connector Housing and +Home announced as joint winners of Home of 2030 design competition
Joint winners of the Home of 2030 design competition were announced last December by the Rt Hon Christopher Pincher MP, Minister of State for Housing: Connector Housing designed by Openstudio with G&T, Hoare Lea, LDA Design and Engineers HRW and +Home designed by igloo Regeneration with Useful Projects, Expedition Engineers and Mawson Kerr.
Connector Housing uses a framework which can generate an almost infinite choice of housing design - from different mixes of houses and apartments to external appearances and internal layouts. The 'Connector' is a flexible unit which can accommodate stairs, a lift, shared communal or workspaces, storage and direct access to communal gardens from upper level apartments. The external envelopes of the base unit and loft are consistent but internal layouts are flexible and can be adapted in response to changing occupant needs.
"Connector Housing shows how good design can deliver the excellent performance and scalability demanded for the flexible home of the future around attractive communal gardens"Peter Freeman
Chair of the Competition Judging Panel and Chair of Homes England
It has an outstanding environmental performance with the sample dwelling achieving net zero carbon operation without any carbon offsets, using today's technology. Its embodied carbon footprint is 15% better than the RIBA 2030 Climate Challenge and it has been assessed to be thermally comfortable for future climates to 2080 without cooling.
Peter Freeman, founder of Argent, chair of the competition judging panel and newly appointed chair of Homes England said: "We had an outstanding shortlist for the competition, and making the final selection was very difficult. Our two winners reflect the very best of British design. Connector Housing shows how good design can deliver the excellent performance and scalability demanded for the flexible home of the future around attractive communal gardens. +Home is leading the way with a fully digitised housing manufacturing process which delivers a bespoke appearance, diverse aesthetics and mix of uses."
The winners, together with the other shortlisted teams, will now be invited to meet Homes England's development partners to discuss their ideas further.
Launched in March 2020, and managed by RIBA, the Home of 2030 competition encouraged the design of environmentally friendly homes to support people in leading independent, fulfilling lives as our society ages.