Floating homes and the reinvention of suburbia could help solve London's housing shortage. These are two of the winning ideas put forward for the New Ideas for Housing competition.
The ten winners, along with 90 other finalists, are on display at the New London Architecture gallery. It's a timely show: lack of supply of housing is pushing up prices of land and housing, 'so that homes in central London are unaffordable to all but the very rich,' says NLA chairman, Peter Murray.
These out-of-the-box concepts highlight the fact that current thinking is not cutting the mustard. So why not build 7,500 affordable units on the capital's canal network, say Baca Architects, and turn 'generation rent' into 'generation float'. Alternatively, CZWG has earmarked a host of leftover plots between existing buildings, which would improve densification, if developed.
Yet more densification could be achieved by building housing on top of existing public buildings, suggests WSP| Parson Brinckerhoff. They've calculated that 630,000 new homes could be delivered - perhaps to the building's staff, which would cut out their commute. 'The private sector would refurbish or fully rebuild a hospital, library or school,' say the architects, 'paid for by adding several floors of apartments above the new facility that could be rented or sold.'
Lack of density is most acute in the suburbs, which is where HTA Design LLP proposes Supurbia. The scheme would allow 'owner-occupiers of semi-detached homes to develop their land, creating rich diversities of housing,' say the architects. 'Perhaps the key message that emerges from the bulk of the entries is that the volume house builders cannot solve this crisis,' says Murray, 'we need a wider range of players involved including community builders, self builders, local authorities, smaller developers and local groups who can seek out the myriad gaps in London's infrastructure and build on them.'
100 of the entries to the competition will be on display in the New Ideas for Housing exhibition at the NLA Gallery from 15 October in central London.
Their amphibious project is called Buoyant Starts
dRMM put forward the Wood Blocks project, a shell that people can fit out with their own interiors
Intimate Infrastucture is a housing system including communal living spaces, created by Natasha Reid Design
Housing over Public Assets by Bill Price and WSP|Parson Binkerhoff proposes building homes above public buildings, like libraries or schools
INFORMATION
New Ideas For Housing
15 October - 17 December 2015
ADDRESS
NLA
The Building Centre
26 Store Street
London WC1E 7BT
-
Discover Acqua di Parma’s new Mandarino di Sicilia fragrance at Milan Design Week 2024Acqua di Parma and Fornice Objects bring the splendour of Sicilian mandarin fields to Milan to celebrate new fragrance Mandarino di Sicilia
-
First look at Samba Room, London’s innovative cocktail lounge packed with Brazilian energyLondon’s Samba Room, an extension of SushiSamba, is a dynamic bar, lounge and private dining space designed by Fabled Studio
-
Thom Browne shows how to make the perfect bed with theatrical performance at Milan Design Week 2024American fashion designer Thom Browne makes his Milan Design Week debut with a new homeware collection created in collaboration with historic linen company Frette
-
Timber-framed Wimbledon house is a minimalist, low-energy affairA new timber-framed Wimbledon house is designed to blend into its traditional surroundings with a neat brick façade, careful massing and pared back interiors
-
London Science Museum’s Energy Revolution gallery champions sustainable exhibition designThe Energy Revolution gallery opens at London’s Science Museum, exploring decarbonisation through sustainable exhibition design by Unknown Works
-
This South Downs house stands as a testament to the value of quiet refinementAt one with the landscape, a South Downs house uses elements of quintessential country villas and midcentury gems with modern technologies
-
Ash Tree House offers a contextual approach to a north London siteAsh Tree House by Edgley Design is a modern family home in a north London conservation area's backyard site
-
In memoriam: John Miller (1930-2024)We remember John Miller, an accomplished British architect and educator who advocated a quiet but rigorous modernism
-
River Wing at Clare College responds to its historic Cambridge heritageUniversity of Cambridge opens its new River Wing on Clare College Old Court, uniting modern technology with historic design
-
Camden Workshop offers flexible family space in a transformed north London warehouseCamden Workshop, a transformed industrial space in north London, was designed by architects McLaren Excell to combine residential space and a creative studio for its owners
-
The Haydon shows off its dramatic stepped volume and triplex penthouseThe Haydon, designed by architects Acme, reveals the triplex penthouse within its dramatic, stepped volume in London’s Aldgate
