Given in honour of modernist architect and social housing pioneer, Neave Brown (1926-2018), the annual Award, sponsored by VMZinc, recognises the UK’s best new affordable housing.
From projects that positively prioritise green space (Unity Place, Dover Court), to transforming vacant sites to improve communities (North Gate Social Housing, Chowdhury Walk), this year’s shortlisted projects demonstrate social housing that blends quality design, community regeneration, and meaningful social value.
Each project seeks to help address pressing issues facing local residents while providing a hopeful blueprint for future social housing, where thoughtful and innovative architecture creates accessible, quality spaces in which communities can thrive.
The four shortlisted projects are:
- Chowdhury Walk by Al-Jawad Pike (Hackney, London)
A sculptural infill development heralding the beginnings of an ambitious programme of new generation council housing by Hackney Council.
- Dover Court Estate by Pollard Thomas Edwards (Islington, London)
A carefully implemented reimagining of a 1960s Modernist estate, the architects have created a new series of welcoming spaces throughout the site, while converting disused garages into 70 new, bespoke, low-carbon homes.
- North Gate Social Housing by Page\Park Architects (Glasgow, Scotland)
A longstanding vacant brownfield site transformed into a new residential landmark, designed to suit the needs of primarily older residents. 31 one or two bed flats for 100% social rent.
- Unity Place by Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios, Alison Brooks Architects and Gort Scott (Design Architects); RM_A Architect (Delivery Architects) (Brent, London)
A neighbourhood transformation providing 235 social rented homes, a community hub and new outdoor areas.
Jury Chair and 2023 Neave Brown Award for Housing winner, Astrid Smitham, said:
“At a time when the UK sets out to build 1.5 million new homes, this shortlist shows the importance of great partnerships between clients and architects in delivering housing of the very highest standard, that everyone deserves. From a new generation of council homes in Hackney and low-carbon homes in Islington, to a residential landmark in Glasgow designed for older residents and an ambitious masterplan in Brent, these projects show how the next wave of UK home building can help individuals and communities to thrive.”
RIBA President, Muyiwa Oki, said:
“This year’s shortlist reaffirms that creating social housing should not be seen as a limitation to architects, but a great opportunity. Each brief has taken run-down or underused spaces and created outstanding projects that serve the needs of residents and the wider community. These schemes thoughtfully balance the environment, community, and quality, reinforcing the reality that when designing social housing, good design need not compromise on any of the three."
The Neave Brown Award for Housing 2024 jury comprised: Astrid Smith (Chair), Founder of Apparata Architects, winners of Neave Brown Award for Housing 2023 for A House for Artists; Bob Allies, Partner, Allies and Morrison and RIBA Awards Group Member; and Zoe Brown, daughter of Neave Brown.
The Neave Brown Award for Housing 2024 shortlist is selected from winners of 2024 RIBA Awards. The winner will be announced at the RIBA Stirling Prize ceremony on Wednesday 16 October 2024 at The Roundhouse in London.
ENDS
Notes to editors:
- Media contact: Thuli.Maseko@riba.org
- Images and citations can be downloaded 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. In 2018 he was awarded the UK’s highest honour for architecture, the Royal Gold Medal for Architecture, which was approved personally by Her Majesty The Queen Elizabeth II. 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) – focusing 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.
- The shortlist is selected from RIBA Award-winning projects of ten or more homes completed and occupied between October 2020 and December 2022, with at least one third constituting affordable housing.
- The RIBA Awards have been running since 1966. 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.
- 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 Twitter for regular updates.
- About VMZinc: VMZinc has been manufacturing a wide range of rolled zinc products used primarily for building envelopes since 1837. In addition to batten cap and standing seam roof systems, products include rainwater systems, a wide range of cladding systems, including a number of rainscreen facade products. Since its creation, the company has also produced decorative roofing products such as dormers, bull’s eyes, weather vanes, finials and balustrades.
