Levitt Bernstein Wins Islington Housing Design Competition

Islington Council has announced that the 'homesown' scheme by Levitt Bernstein, in conjunction with Aecom and Arcadis, has won the 1st Prize of the Islington Housing Design Competition. The winning proposal suggests a new philosophy on 21st century family living: spacious family homes equipped with private and communal outdoor space, herb gardens and fruit trees. The firm’s energy efficient design included a wide range of sustainability features such as green roofs, photo-voltaic panels and rainwater harvesting.

Fifty-nine architecture firms entered the competition, which was run by Islington Council and supported by Homes for Islington. The competition sought to find a new exemplary architectural design for affordable family housing. This new type of housing will provide a sustainable, spacious and high quality living environment for its residents. Islington Council would like this form of housing to become as much a part of Islington as its Georgian town houses. Architects were invited to submit proposals for a site at Vaudeville Court, located in a built up area of Finsbury Park.

Levitt Bernstein has now been appointed to work with Homes for Islington to develop the scheme from concept design to planning application. It is hoped that the planning application will be submitted later this year.

Islington, an inner-city district in London, has a strong heritage of high quality housing from Georgian and Victorian terraces to modern housing estates such as Lubetkin's Spa Green Estate. The borough is diverse and vibrant yet also faces challenges in the areas of housing supply, health inequalities, safety and environmental sustainability.

The Council held a design competition to develop a new exemplary architectural design for affordable family housing. This new type of housing will provide a sustainable, spacious and high quality living environment for its residents. Islington Council would like this form of housing to become as emblematic of Islington as its Georgian town houses.

This new style will be exemplified through the development of a housing scheme in Finsbury Park. The chosen location is typical of the many potential housing sites within Islington and Inner London. This development will be implemented by Homes for Islington.

The submissions were judged on:

• Design quality and in particular the way in which the team has balanced the many competing demands within the brief, the planning guidance note and the Mayor of London's emerging housing design guidance
• The extent to which the design team has balanced the specific challenges of the location
• Sustainability
• Affordability and deliverability
• Accessibility for mobility impaired people
• Liveability - the extent to which the scheme provides a welcoming and adaptable living space for local families
• The extent to which the design is reproducible across Inner London and more widely

The runners-up, Avanti Architects and Brady Mallalieu Architects, both proposed excellent schemes but were pipped to the post by the winners.