On 4 December 2020, Rt Hon Christopher Pincher MP, Minister of State for Housing, announced the joint winners of the Home of 2030 competition: +Home and Connector Housing.
Launched in March 2020 and managed by the RIBA, the competition encouraged the design of environmentally friendly homes that support people in leading independent, fulfilling lives as our society ages.
The +Home scheme is designed by igloo Regeneration with Useful Projects, Expedition Engineers and Mawson Kerr. It proposes community led self build homes that people can design themselves. Simple to build with affordable frames and components, the homes would be climate friendly and recyclable at the end of their use.
Connector Housing, designed by Openstudio with Hoare Lea, LDA Design and Gardiner & Theobald, is a flexible and adaptable system for age friendly, multi-generational housing and neighbourhoods. It proposes varying densities of houses and apartments, with a variety of site configurations, vertical heights, external appearances and internal layouts that can be adapted to respond to changing occupant needs.
The winners and other shortlisted teams will now be invited to meet Homes England’s development partners to discuss their ideas further.
Speaking at the HOMES UK conference, Minister of State for Housing Rt Hon Christopher Pincher MP said:
“The Home of 2030 competition was born out of this government’s ambition to meet the grand challenges of our time: helping our country adapt to an ageing society, while fighting climate change and boldly pursuing our 2050 net zero commitments. Two entries really captured the judges’ imaginations: their designs show the way housing in this country can be reimagined and for that, I would like to sincerely congratulate both winners of these worthy awards.”
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."
RIBA President, Alan Jones, said:
“Congratulations to the two winning design teams. The UK urgently needs new, affordable, well designed, accessible, and sustainable housing that will last for future generations – and these two proposals provide exactly that. The winning schemes show what’s possible when architects and designers collaborate and offer intelligent solutions to tackle the housing shortage we currently face.”
The other four shortlisted teams, and their proposals, were:
Perpendicular Architecture, humblebee and changebuilding, with a team including EcoSystems Exterior Architecture and Arup
Their proposal, named Positive+ House, seeks to maximise the positive contribution to society and the environment, and utilises the latest in industry digitalisation and a distributed offsite manufacturing.
HLM Architects with University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC), Mid Group, Hydrock and Greenbuild
The team proposed a "Forever Home", with a universal manufacturing platform that enables flexible, affordable, and sustainable homes that perpetuate a circular economy.
Outpost with Propagating Dan, Strawworks, Gaia Group, Max Fordham, Milk, Momentum and EcoCocon
Their proposal, Janus, combined traditional bio-based construction materials with modern 21st century techniques to create homes that are designed for a post fossil fuel age.
Studio OPEN with Elementa Consulting
Their proposal was a community focused "Forest City" design, with a central garden shared between four homes which are built from locally sourced materials and with modern construction methods. At end of life, homes will be disassembled, and components reused and recycled.
The Home of 2030 programme also included a Young Persons’ Challenge: an innovation challenge for manufacturers of new products and systems and a public engagement exercise to understand what people want from future homes. Find out more about the Young Persons' Challenge on the Home of 2030 website.
