The brief was established as a regeneration to form 10 houses on the site with visions to develop long term social economic and environmental benefits to the community.
Redmak saw this as an urban design opportunity to upgrade the site into a long term sustainable perimeter block with the following approaches:
- A cluster of houses surrounding a central space or plaza to create a sense of place and security.
- Shared and private garden space to promote healthy outdoor living areas. Providing safe areas for young children to play outside and an area for garden recreation.
- Affordable 1&2 bed dwellings for young adults and couples to get onto the property ladder.
The importance in creating these outdoor spaces are to encourage the increased opportunity of incidental social interaction between neighbours – strengthening community bonds.
BUILDING
Redmak strongly believes that we must consider environmental approaches to our design in buildings. We should strive to produce passive houses when possible to reduce our energy consumption and carbon footprint. The 10 houses have parapets designed in mind for placement of photovoltaic solar panels to:
- Generate renewable energy.
- Reduce the cost of electricity for the homeowner.
- Hide the PV panels at street level.
An apartment shouldn’t just be a block of bricks to fulfill the housing crisis needs. Good Architecture requires a well thought out and holistic approach starting with basic urban design – which can blossom into a community we can call a home.