Specialist Housing
Portfolio
As architects, landscape architects and urban designers, we create award winning buildings, living landscapes and thriving urban spaces, using inventive design to solve real life challenges. Each of our projects is different but the driving force behind every one is the desire to create something that is inherently beautiful, sustainable and useful.
We have specialised in the design of housing since our founding in 1968, and continue to work on projects of all shapes and sizes across the country. We support the principle of inclusive design and have always had a particular interest in housing for older and more vulnerable people.
The practice co-authored the first HAPPI report, which proved to be a game-changer in the design of older people’s housing. More recently, we published Age Friendly Housing – a book embedding design principles and exploring their implications for our homes and communities. Our expertise also includes housing for people needing support in other ways, such as those with mental health difficulties, autism and physical disabilities, as well as homeless accommodation and youth hostels.
From our offices in London and Manchester, our urban designers, landscape architects and interior designers enable us to look holistically at all projects, providing the expertise to deal with both the macro scale masterplanning and micro scale detailing both inside and outside the buildings.
As well as designing new homes, we set standards and shape opinion within the sector. We regularly contribute to books, papers, guidelines and reports; have undertaken significant commissions for the HCA and DCLG, and produced design guides for local authorities and housing associations.
Architecture, Landscape Architecture | Housing, Health
Hazelhurst Court
Working within the constraints of a tight urban plot, this scheme comprises 60 extra care homes within two new buildings, alongside integrated communal space. Being mindful that older people spend more time inside, the design is centred on the concept of bringing the outside in and all homes are dual aspect to provide views of the courtyards and neighbouring streets. Similarly, a new garden room offers a generous, light-filled communal space between the two courtyards, each of which has a different character to provide a range of physical and visual stimuli for residents.
Project details
Creating more space for older people within an existing extra care scheme.
Client
Phoenix Community Housing
Construction value
£12.7m
Completion
2017
Location Lewisham
Awards
Civic Trust Awards 2020, Selwyn Goldsmith Award for Universal Design: Winner
Civic Trust Awards 2020: Highly Commended
RIBA Awards 2018, London: Winner
Housing Design Awards 2018, HAPPI: Winner
Inside Housing Development Awards 2018, Best Older People’s Housing Scheme: Winner
Photos by Tim Crocker
Block A
Garden Room
Melfield Gardens
Beckenham Park Heights
New shared surface linking
Existing Court Building
linking entrances
Block B
Beckenham Hill Road
“I never expected it to be as lovely as it is. My friends have all told me how lucky I am, and how they wish they were moving in too!”
Beryl Goodhew, resident
Honeypot Lane
This extra care housing scheme will provide 61 independent flats for older people, as well as associated staff facilities and communal areas. It forms a significant part of Brent Council's programme to deliver new choices for older people with higher care and support needs.
Flats are larger than required by the London Plan in order to incorporate HAPPI design principles, such additional storage space, direct access between the bedroom and bathroom and a flexible layout. This flexibility, along with built-in provision for healthcare technology, will allow residents to stay in their homes for longer, even if mobility or health declines. All flats will have a private balcony or terrace and seating and planters on the open access galleries will create opportunities for socialising with neighbours, fostering a real sense of community. The rear landscaped courtyard will also offer an oasis of calm for residents.
Project details
Extra care housing that promotes wellbeing and maximises independence.
Client
London Borough of Brent
Construction value
£15.4m
Completion 2023
Location Brent Awards
Architecture | Housing
Carlton Dene
Carlton Dene, Westminster City Council’s new flagship extra care scheme, comprises 65 extra care and 22 general needs homes. The scheme sits adjacent to St Augustine’s, a Grade I listed church. We are targeting an ambitious sustainability brief, seeking Passivhaus accreditation for the general needs block and the PHI low energy standard for the extra care portion.
Many of the extra care homes are one-bed-plus, with flexible partitions that provide different layout configurations based on residents' requirements to enable them to age in place. All homes are dual aspect. Shared communal balconies overlooking the generous courtyard and roof terrace spaces provide additional shared spaces outside front doors, in line with HAPPI principles.
Project details
A highly sustainable, flagship extra care scheme designed using HAPPI principles.
Client
Westminster City Council
Construction value
£35m
Completion 2022
Location Westminster
Awards
Housing Design Awards 2022, HAPPI Award: Winner
Courtyard
Kilburn Park Road
Café
Block A entrance
Architecture, Landscape Architecture | Housing
Reardon Court
We were commissioned by the London Borough of Enfield to assess a previously consented scheme for this site. Our new proposals ensure Reardon Court will be a high quality extra care scheme and deliver 70 homes for the area.
The homes are all dual aspect and designed in line with HAPPI principles, which includes maximising views into a central courtyard and surrounding parkland. The courtyard spaces will be used to offer a variety of sensory experiences to residents and visitors. Walking routes and allotments are located around the outside of the building to promote resident activity and a greater connection to nature.
A communal lounge and activity room with green roof sits at the heart of the scheme, with generous views on both sides out into the landscaped areas.
Project details
An extra care development for the London Borough of Enfield, designed in line with HAPPI principles.
Client
London Borough of Enfield
Construction value
£24m
Completion
2024
Location Enfield
Awards
Healthcare Design Awards 2025, Best Architectural Design: Finalist
Procure Partnerships Framework National Project Excellence
Awards 2024, Construction Project of the Year: Winner
Architecture | Housing
Buccleuch House
This unusual project involved working with three separate clients to provide new homes for three different communities: first time buyers, Orthodox Jewish families and older people who need extra care.
Our design focused on creating a new community within one new, unified, elegant building. Key to this is the way the building shows very little difference externally across the three tenures. The only exception is the use of subtly different balcony types, which were designed with the practical and cultural requirements of residents in mind. Private apartments have simple stacking balconies; those for Orthodox Jewish families are staggered to provide a clear view of the sky for the Sukkot festival; and those for the older residents are glazed to provide an extra ‘living space’ for those who spend more time inside. Many of the homes for older people also follow HAPPI design recommendations, with flexible layouts to help residents move around more easily.
Project details
Unifying three different communities in one truly intergenerational housing project.
Client Hill, Hanover and Agudas Israel HA
Construction value
£15m
Completion
2015
Location Hackney
Awards
EAC National Housing for Older People Awards 2019, Best UK Retirement Housing: Gold Award British Homes Awards 2016, Affordable Housing Development of the Year: Winner Building Awards 2016, Housing Project of the Year: Finalist
Photo by Tim Crocker
“The key to the success of obtaining planning, which was unanimous, was the close working relationship we enjoyed with the local community, the support and guidance from the planning and housing departments as well as the tripartite partnership between Hill, Hanover and AIHA.”
Jamie Hunter, Development Director at Hill
Architecture, Landscape Architecture | Housing, Health
The Courtyards
This project develops an underused suburban site to provide 60 new affordable homes for older people with varying care needs. Homes will meet HAPPI recommendations and be fully accessible and wheelchair adaptable, with sliding doors to assist those with mobility issues and large storage areas inside for wheelchairs and scooters. The apartments will blur boundaries between private and communal space to encourage residents to take ownership of shared areas and facilitate interaction. The large central courtyard will be an active focal point and feature raised planting beds to encourage gardening.
Project details
Putting each principle of the HAPPI report into practice to provide 60 independent living homes for affordable rent and communal facilities for people over the age of 55 with varying care needs.
Client Community Gateway Association
Construction value
£8.5m
Completion
2021
Location Preston
Awards
Northern Design Awards 2022, Supported/Sheltered Housing Scheme of the Year: Winner
Housing Design Awards 2022, Completed: Shortlisted
Northern Design Awards 2022, Best Residential Development: Finalist
by
Photos
Tom Biddle
Melfield Gardens
Melfield Gardens will provide 30 affordable homes for residents aged 55 and above, and two, four-bedroom homes for eight postgraduate students from Goldsmiths, University of London. In return for being ‘good neighbours’, the students will be charged a lower rent. Each will spend a number of hours assisting older residents, offering company or participating in the cultural and recreational activities that will take place in the communal spaces. As well as learning from this innovative social pilot, the client is keen to achieve a fully certified Passivhaus building as the first step towards a zero carbon future.
The Category 2 and 3 homes have adopted a dual aspect and flexible ‘onebedroom-plus’ model that incorporates an additional ‘study/hobby room’ with a pocket door to allow it to become part of the main living space or remain separate. This provides residents with greater flexibility to tailor their homes to their own requirements as they age in place, in line with HAPPI principles.
The two subtly cranked buildings partially enclose a pedestrian-prioritised central green space which retains public routes through the site to Beckenham Hill Station. A south-facing ‘garden room’ wraps around into the protected garden for residents and visitors.
Project details
An intergenerational development for older people and students, with generous communal spaces, designed to a Passivhaus standard.
Client Phoenix Community Housing
Construction value
£8.6m
Completion 2023
Location Lewisham Awards
Housing Design Awards 2021, GLA Award: Winner
NLA Awards 2021, Unbuilt: Shortlisted
Miller Road
Miller Road is an extra care scheme located in Preston that will provide 61 100% affordable one and two bed apartments alongside communal spaces. To accommodate a short programme and tight construction budget, we developed an efficient building layout. By carefully positioning the residential wings, we were able to work with the existing slope of the site and introduce a central lightwell space to bring natural light and ventilation into the centre of the plan and terminate views along some of the double-loaded corridors.
Additional landscape spaces have also been incorporated in the design, including a second residential courtyard, as well as a public open space to the front of the building that acts as a buffer to the street. A new communal bistro and activity room also provide generous, light-filled communal spaces to accommodate a whole host of activities that can spill out into the courtyards if weather permits.
Project details
Creating 61 affordable, extra care homes alongside landscaped amenity spaces.
Client Homes England
Construction value £13m
Completion
2024
Location Preston
Architecture, Landscape Architecture | Housing, Health
Whiteley Village Care Hub
As part of our work at this retirement village, set within a designated Conservation Area, this new care hub delivers more public, social and health spaces and a ground breaking model of residential care that encourages greater interaction between those residents living independently in the village and those who need more support. Designed in collaboration with Francis Roberts Architects, a new café is housed within a distinctive octagonal glazed pavilion linked to a more traditional alsmhouse building with a hair salon, therapy and consulting rooms. To the rear lies the residential care element, designed as two households of 15 rooms, each clustered around an open kitchen, eating and living space with an outdoor terrace and wide veranda.
Project details
A care hub which offers spaces for residents and visitors alike
Client
Whiteley Village Trust Investments
Construction value
£10.5m
Completion
2019
Location Surrey
by Anna B Photography
Photos
“The new care hub marks the start of the next chapter in the history of Whiteley Village. The addition of new facilities from which we can deploy up-to-date clinical care will further enhance life for people today and in the future.”
Chandra McGowan, Chief Executive, The Whiteley Homes Trust
Architecture | Housing, Health
Broughton House
The redevelopment of this military veterans’ care home includes a care home for 65 residents, including specialist dementia and nursing care provision; 25 extra care apartments, all with their own private external space; plus shared ancillary spaces and links to further communal accommodation. A new hub space will also enable the charity to offer a wider range of support services. The design concept is based on the historical fort – a symbolic wall enveloping the buildings whilst the wings of the care home and extra care apartments are arranged around a central landscaped courtyard.
Project details
Specialised care spaces and accommodation for military veterans.
Client
Broughton House
Construction value
£13m
Completion
2020 (phase 1) and 2022 (phase 2)
Location
Salford
by
Photos
Tom Biddle
Architecture, Urban Design | Housing
Bampton Estate
This project expands the range of housing options available to over 55s in Forest Hill by developing within the grounds of the existing Bampton Estate to provide 100% socially rented, independent living accommodation.
Our design sensitively responds to the geometry and massing of the context, as well as the opportunities offered by the area's topography, to ensure a cohesive overall character is formed between the existing and the proposed buildings and landscape. Improvements will be made to the existing amenity space with a new ball court, landscape design, new parking and estate road resurfacing to link everything together. A protected courtyard will also be created within the new building.
Project details
Expanding housing options for over 55s by developing within the grounds of the existing Bampton Estate.
Client Lewisham Homes
Construction value
£9m
Location Lewisham
Awards
Building London Planning Awards 2020, Best New Place to Live: Shortlisted
Stanstead Road
This project is the result of a campaign by a group of families with autistic children, which provides individual homes for autistic young adults, who will also be given support to help them live independently. A new three storey building will sit on the small, previously disused corner site and feature four one-bedroom apartments, a communal lounge and sheltered garden. Minimising stressful situations and anxiety is particularly important for these young people, and so we considered issues such as reducing the impact of noise and creating calm and private environments.
The design references the local context, particularly the adjacent Victorian terraced houses through careful handling of the mass, proportion and articulation of the façade through crisp detailing. The awkward acute corner geometry is dealt with by a softly curved wall. Buff brickwork is used to clad the ground and first floor to reflect the neighbouring terraced cottages, whilst zinc shingles are used for the upper storey to echo the nearby roofs.
Project details
Independent housing for residents with autism in Forest Hill.
Client Birnbeck Housing Association
Completion
2021
Location
Lewisham
Age-friendly Housing: Future design for older people
Co-authored by Julia Park and Jeremy Porteus, the book looks at mainstream provision too, suggesting that all new housing, and the wider public realm, should be age-friendly. Reflecting on the implications of changing demographics and lifestyles, and the increasing role of technology, the book includes insights from external contributors who, though their expert knowledge, help us think ahead and remind us that despite much to celebrate, there is no room for complacency.
Housing our Ageing Population: Panel for Innovation (HAPPI)
This report considers how to best address the challenge of providing homes that meet the needs and aspirations of the older people of the future.
A thirteen-member panel, chaired by Lord Best, was anchored by ourselves in conjunction with Pollard Thomas Edwards, working with Design for Homes. We organised the panel process, conducted background research and produced an in-depth report and series of case study films.
