HLM named one of six in competition to find homes of the future

HLM Architects is delighted to announce that out of more than 200 entries it has been shortlisted to one of six for the second phase of the hotly contested RIBA Home of  2030 Design competition.

Announced yesterday (23 August 2020) by Housing Minister Christopher Pincher, the Home of 2030 competition has encouraged the best and brightest talents of the  housing industry to design environmentally friendly homes that support people in leading independent, fulfilling lives as our society ages.

The competition aims to attract the best and brightest talents of the housing industry to design the homes of the future. In the first phase of the competition, small  businesses, designers and manufacturers were invited to come forward with ideas for new low carbon, age-friendly homes, meeting the highest standards of design whilst  tackling the key challenges facing our society.

In developing its submission for the first phase of this competition, HLM Architects created the concept of a universal manufacturing platform that enables flexible,  affordable, and sustainable ‘forever’ homes that are able to perpetuate a circular economy. These homes will be able to grow and shrink with their owners needs to create  stable communities and a strong sense of place.

This concept was developed with support from the University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) with the ambition to solve the issue of  capacity and compatibility of offsite housing construction through development of a design standard that enables any offsite manufactured system to deliver the same  high quality, sustainable design, with parts that are interchangeable.

In the second phase of the competition HLM Architects and AMRC will be joined by Mid Group, a contractor that will help develop a platform that provides  interchangeability with a varied ecosystem of components and suppliers. Completing the team are Hydrock, who will bring engineering excellence and Greenbuild, HLM  Architect’s sustainability consultant partners.

HLM Director and Head of Design, Philip Watson said, ‘Our ambition is to use the power of design and technology to create homes that are flexible, sustainable and  affordable. These will be homes that adapt to people’s needs over their lifetime so that they can put down strong roots, thus nurturing supportive communities. At a  macro level we are also seeking to create a design platform that enables the entire construction and manufacturing industry to unite to solve our housing crisis.’

The team will now go on to develop their design concepts and present to the Evaluation Panel. Winners will then be introduced to Homes England development  framework partners to explore the possibility of developing bids for a series of homes on Homes England land.