Architype

I was utterly shocked to read the Guardian’s story last week about the London developer who had segregated play areas for rich and poor children by blocking social housing tenants from using a central ‘communal’ play area.

In the same week, we celebrated the commencement of the site stage of our Shaldon Road community housing scheme in Lockleaze, Bristol. In stark contrast to the London development, this scheme has been designed around inclusive shared spaces that encourage interaction and a strong sense of community.

The scheme will provide 50 affordable dwellings (houses and flats) for both United Communities housing tenants and members of the Bristol Community Land Trust. Although the houses will each have a unique character, with different coloured render and contrasting brick and timber cladding materials, they will be completely tenure blind; ensuring all residents have equal access to the communal outdoor spaces and shared facilities across the site.

The scheme has been designed to prioritise pedestrians, pushing cars to the periphery of the site and creating a public square and common house right at the heart of the scheme. The houses are arranged in three clusters, each one addressing a centralised communal space for growing, recreation and play.

This scheme builds on the success of our earlier community housing scheme, Springhill Co-housing in Stroud. Completed in 2004, residents have been successfully living and working together as a community for the last 15 years.

We’re incredibly excited to embark on the detail design of this project; providing 50 much needed high quality, affordable homes for the Lockleaze area of Bristol.

We’ll keep you updated on progress over the next few months!

More detail about the design for the new community can be found here.