Henley Halebrown-designed affordable housing scheme wins the 2022 Neave Brown Award for Housing

The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has announced Hackney New Primary School and 333 Kingsland Road by Henley Halebrown as the winner of the 2022 Neave Brown Award for Housing. 

This award recognizes the best new affordable housing schemes in the UK. The winning project merges a community-led school with 68 apartments. Located on a compact site in East London, the building features 68 rented homes, half of which are offered below market rates. RIBA shared, "the development is owned by an affordable housing charity, which primarily focuses on housing key workers."

The building’s design, distinct through its Victorian orange brick and red cast granite façade, utilizes orientation, natural ventilation, and light to create spacious, bright apartments. It also prioritizes energy efficiency and adaptability. A central, octagonal stair is surrounded by eight residences located on each of the main floors of the building. Large windows are featured to optimize views, and all residents have access to a communal roof terrace. A colonnade provides access to new commercial units at the building's base, forming a greater urban complex. 

"This is a notable architectural response, demonstrating how to effectively combine multiple functions without diminishing the strength of either the educational or residential aspect," said Kaye Stout, Chair of the Neave Brown Award for Housing jury. "Here, Henley Halebrown deliver high-quality affordable housing that stimulates and delights residents, visitors and passers-by. The robust design is thoughtfully detailed throughout. Not only does it provide social value to this inner-city neighbourhood, it responds to a complex brief with architectural ambition and sets an extremely high standard for urban design. When Neave Brown accepted the RIBA Gold Medal, he said, 'we weren’t so much doing housing, as making part of the city,' and this project does just that."

In addition to the Neave Brown Award for Housing, Hackney New Primary School and 333 Kingsland Road was awarded the RIBA London Award 2022, the RIBA National Award 2022, and was named to the 2022 Stirling Prize shortlist. 

"This is a highly-intelligent response to providing critical social infrastructure – a thoughtful and generous set of spaces for residents and the local community to live, learn and play in," added  RIBA President Simon Allford. "The educational and residential elements are elegantly engaged in a single composition - an architectural essay in designing an important city corner that engages with the public realm."

Learn more about the Naeve Brown Award for housing here.