The brief required proposals for innovative solutions for affordable social housing for rent, providing long term and attractive homes for families on low incomes.

The site strategy is to terrace the buildings (using the land as efficently as possible), enclosing private and secure gardens between them. The street would be accessed through a private front garden which would allow for off street parking and a secure threshold across which regular meetings with neighbours could occur.

The design investigated the way in which the volume of a two storey house could be re configured to allow for changing lifestyle needs, provide a high level of energy efficiency in construction methods, materials and running costs.

The buildings reclaim the volume of the original roof space by changing the two way pitch to a mono pitch. The bedrooms are raised into the roof space creating additional volume in the living areas. This allows for the insertion of an additional floor and mezzanine which is to be used as a children's play or 'home work' space in response to changing work lifestyles. The building form also creates a 'bigness' within the main living room with the mezzanine inserted as required.

The main internal structural elements of the building will be prefabricated. Wood and the by products of the forestry industry will be used through out the building. A prefabricated service stack is positioned over the stairwell to accommodate solar panels, ventilation and hot water cylinders.

Finalist: William Sutton Social Housing Comptetition: 'Innovation From Tradition 1998'.