Z2P13Bio

George Spendlove Remedial Housing: Reimagining Cruddas Park Portfolio [https://drive.google.com/file/d/10Ncp41Fd3GDGrTdRlV4yz0Mh_h19W70F/view?usp=sharing] georgespendlove@gmail.com - 07715854598 In 2014/15, Newcastle revised its greenbelt boundaries, releasing 400ha of greenbelt land for residential development on the city edge; much of this, is now under development. It is characterised by the pervasive expansion of generic, detached, peripheral estates. In the context of the declared climate emergency however, the housing typologies, landscape of diffused suburban detachment and increasing car dependency, is ripe for further scrutiny. The studio is interested in the role of housing in the formation of social and spatial landscapes within which, the values and aspirations of a community are manifested.

Beginning with a study of the default peripheral housing estate, the studio challenged students to rethink an alternative housing model for the city. Our focus was the site of a 1960s tower block, on the fringes between city and suburb. It is comprised of 160 single aspect apartments, densely stacked but under occupied. Instances of anti-social behaviour and little budget for maintaining amenity space, have been partly responsible for creating an increasingly homogenised demographic.

By reflecting on the work of LETI and Historic England – who argue that the high carbon cost of new buildings means, retrofitting an existing building achieves the lowest embodied carbon over a buildings lifetime - the proposal sought to refurbish the tower and imagine the development anew. By building-in flexibility and choice at the scale of the individual unit, it imagines how the existing infrastructure could support a strong community and embody sustainability in its outlook.

The existing low-rise podium is partially removed to enhance and improve connections to the wider neighbourhood, making transparent the complexity of residential, working and educational spaces, around the new urban square. When addressing the residential spaces, the project proposes a careful reconfiguration of the tower’s interior. This reconfiguration increases the diversity of housing types, offering residents spacious, comfortable and adaptable homes that counter the rigid and inflexible style of a lot of new housing. The new apartments are all dual-aspect, with newly added balconies and sun rooms.

These are functional spaces that not only animate the building façade, but are also lightweight, modular components, designed for off-site construction.