No. 45/04

Press Release: Wednesday 8 September 2004

PEABODY RECEIVES CORPORATION SPONSORED HOUSING DESIGN AWARD

A Peabody Trust development on the site of a former school in Fulham has been judged the "best example of affordable housing" at this year's Housing Design Awards.

The Housing Corporation sponsored award, won by the innovative Beaufort House development, was presented to the Peabody Trust at a ceremony held last night at the Business Design Centre in Islington.

Using off-site manufacture to provide thermal and acoustic performance - greater than current building regulation requirements - the construction combines large prefabricated steel walls and floor panels with factory finished bathroom and lift shaft modules. This is the first time that such a form of fabrication has been used for affordable housing.

With 123 dwellings per hectare, the high density scheme nevertheless manages to include 14 two-storey family houses with generous gardens, six-storey blocks of flats and maisonettes, and a further three-storey block incorporating tenants' meeting rooms and follow-on accommodation linked to the Rough Sleepers Initiative.

The height of the new units matches that of adjoining properties to the east, as well as four 19th Century Peabody blocks to the west. By placing masionettes on the ground floor, architects Fielden Clegg Bradley reduced the number of homes served by lifts to eight, bringing cost-control and maintenance benefits.

Sir Duncan Michael, chair of the Housing Corporation judging panel, praised the scheme saying: "This was a difficult category to judge, but the Housing Design Award assessors and ourselves were unanimous in awarding it to Beaufort House as an excellent example of good practice, encapsulating all of the objectives which the Corporation currently seeks to achieve."

The Housing Design Awards are the longest established and most comprehensive award scheme for housing in the UK. Two further developments, Gainsborough Studios by Southern Housing Group and Edward Woods Estate by Notting Hill Housing Trust, received a special mention in the Housing Corporation sponsored category.

For more information contact Robert Davies on 020 7393 2227; email: robert.davies@housingcorp.gsx.gov.uk

Notes to Editors:

1. The Housing Design Awards are presented annually by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, NHBC, the Royal Institute of British Architects and the Royal Town Planning Institute.
2. The Housing Corporation is the Government agency responsible for regulating and investing in over 2,000 housing associations in England. It is changing the face of affordable homes, creating strong communities that are exciting places to live and work. Its biggest ever investment programe of £3.3 billion for 2004-06 will fund over 67,000 affordable homes.
3. The Housing Corporation judging panel comprised of Corporation Board members Sir Duncan Michael (chair), Sheila Button and Shaukat Moledina, as well as Ben Derbyshire, managing director of HTA Architects.
4. Gainsborough Studios was designed by architects Munchenback and Marhsall. Edward Woods Estate was designed by architects PRP, in partnership with PTE.