LEAFLETS! National design competition launched for major housing scheme in Mansfield

A MAJOR DESIGN competition has been launched inviting architects to design a significant new social housing scheme on a derelict site close to Mansfield town centre.

The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is managing the competition to find an outstanding design for Mansfield’s White Hart Street area on behalf of Mansfield District Council.

Applications are invited from architects across the world in accordance with the requirements set out in the briefing document and selection questionnaire on the RIBA website.

The deadline for submission of the selection questionnaires is 12noon (GMT) on Wednesday 15 February 2023.

The land to be redeveloped is located within the Bridge Street conservation area which contains buildings of historic and architectural merit.

Full Council approved a £16.5m budget to build new council homes on this brownfield site in 2019. Architects entering the competition currently have a £14m budget for the scheme although this may increase subject to a successful bid for grant funding.

The properties are expected to be a mix of housing types, including family houses and apartments for older people, and built to the Future Homes Standard to save energy for residents, in line with the council’s Climate Emergency Action Plan. They would be added to the council’s stock of affordable homes.

The area has stood derelict for over a decade. It previously had planning permission for a mixed retail and residential scheme in 2008, but market conditions meant this scheme was never taken forward. It subsequently became blighted and has, as a consequence, become a magnet for anti-social behaviour.

The council purchased land in this area last year (2022) in order to facilitate its regeneration. Redevelopment of this area would strongly align with the council’s Growth, Aspiration, Wellbeing and Place priorities.

The firm winning the competition will progress the design for planning permission – subject to approval by the Full Council of the business case expected in January 2024.

If approved, a planning application could be submitted in the same month and if that is approved, demolition work could start around October 2024 and building work in February 2025.