Flowering roofs and four shades of brick are all part of Manchester Methodist Housing Association’s Guest Street development at New Islington, in Manchester. The association, which is part of the Great Places Housing Group, worked with architects de Metz Forbes Knight to make sure the houses were interesting from every angle, including above.

A total of 14 new homes have been built to house residents of a local estate. There are six two-bedroom and six three-bedroom houses and two two-bedroom bungalows.

The homes were designed individually to suit the needs of occupants, who also chose their new address, Guest Street – the family name of owners of a sweet factory that used to occupy the site.

The homes feature large windows to let in lots of light, doors set into side walls rather than facing the street, kitchens placed centrally to reflect their status as the hub of the house, intimate courtyards designed for chatting to neighbours, and complementing colours of brick along the terrace – resonant of a multicoloured mews.

The development has already won the Housing Design Award for best metropolitan housing scheme. Roofs have been planted with a mix of species of sedum, which has water-retaining succulent-type leaves, and will flower throughout the summer.

Residents were consulted throughout – about everything from exterior brick colour to choosing their own kitchen – and took an active interest in the building work.

Michelle Heathcote, who moved in with her three children, loves her new home. “I’m still getting used to how light and bright it is, compared with my old house,” she says. “And it’s so roomy.”