The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has named Chowdhury Walk by Al-Jawad Pike as winner of the 2024 Neave Brown Award for Housing. Given in honour of modernist architect and social housing pioneer, Neave Brown (1926-2018), the annual award recognises the UK’s best new affordable housing.
Named in memory of the late Dr Abdul Chowdhury who campaigned for additional PPE for frontline workers during the coronavirus pandemic, Chowdhury Walk is part of an ambitious programme of new generation council housing by Hackney Council.
Built on a plot previously occupied by garages and ad-hoc parking, the development has created 11 new two, three and four bedroom dwellings, seven of which are for social rent.
The houses are uniquely staggered, moving away from the UK’s traditional linear terrace house arrangement. This not only gives the development a distinctive sculptural quality but provides residents with added privacy and supports passive solar gain.
The terrace weaves along a newly created public thoroughfare for pedestrians and cyclists, providing the wider community with a meaningful, new way to cross the neighbourhood. The use of red brick provides a sense of warmth, while granite plinths and planters confidently line the frontage of each home.
It’s cross-laminated timber construction helps to minimise its overall environmental impact, while features such as triple-glazed windows and built-in solar panels on the mono-pitched roofs help to minimise residents' energy use.
Chowdhury Walk offers a blueprint for social housing – an elegant piece of high-quality urban placemaking that generously serves both its residents and passers-by.
The RIBA Neave Brown Award for Housing is sponsored by VM Zinc.
Astrid Smitham, Jury Chair and 2023 Neave Brown Award for Housing winner, said:
“Chowdhury Walk is part of Hackney Council’s programme to build new council homes on small sites, providing eleven two-storey terraced houses on a former garage site. A new public mews provides both informal space to play and a well-used new public route. The homes feel uplifting upon entering, with the simple intuitive floor plan making efficient use of space while supporting the busyness of family life.
Attention to detailing and quality of materials and finishes runs through every aspect of the project both internally and externally. Hackney Council’s aspirations and support are integral to the project, prioritising architect-led design and construction quality for residents, as well as an ambitious approach to procurement.”
Jessam Al-Jawad, Founding Partner at Al-Jawad Pike, said:
“Chowdhury Walk, an infill housing scheme in Hackney, London is both modest and pioneering. It demonstrates what is possible when a local authority elects to develop its own brownfield sites to address housing need and enhance the local neighbourhood. The design shows that even with a limited budget, creative solutions can produce social housing that offers moments of joy. It's a clear commitment to tackling the housing crisis by employing young local architects to deliver innovative solutions for the community.”
Notes to editors:
- Media contact: Ruby.OShea@riba.org
- Images are available to download here and a short film featuring the architect and residents is available to view here.
- Neave Brown (1929 – 2018) was a modernist housing architect, best known for a series of housing estates in and around Camden in North London. Recognition for Neave Brown came late in life. His work in the 1960s and 70s was rejected for eschewing the high-rise norms of the time and instead – most notably in the case of Alexandra Road (1978) – focussing on a street-based alternative that placed an emphasis on communal spaces and shared facilities, whilst working within the constraints of local authority budgets and planning requirements and a dense and constrained urban context. His plans made clever use of space, creating capacious and generous rooms for occupants.
- To be considered for the Neave Brown Award for Housing 2024, projects needed to be a winner of a 2024 RIBA Regional Award, be made up of ten or more homes completed and occupied between October 2021 and December 2023, and at least one third of the housing needs to be affordable.
- The RIBA Awards have been running continuously since 1966, apart from 2020, when due to the COVID-19 pandemic they were postponed. No matter the shape, size, budget or location, RIBA Award winning schemes set the standard for great architecture all across the country. RIBA Awards are for buildings in the UK by RIBA Chartered Architects and RIBA International Fellows. Entries are to be submitted to the region or nation in which the building is situated. Winners are considered for the RIBA Stirling Prize.
- The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is a global professional membership body that serves its members and society in order to deliver better buildings and places, stronger communities and a sustainable environment. Follow @RIBA on X for regular updates.
