Winchester based T2 Architects’ scheme for Winchester City Council, has just started on site, with completion planned for 2023. T2 Architects are a GHA member and Winchester City Council is a member of the GHA Vanguard Network. The new flats, which will be accredited to Passivhaus low energy building standard will provide a total of 73 new flats in two new blocks and three new houses, and will make an important contribution to making the activities of the Council carbon neutral by 2024 and for the District as a whole to be carbon neutral by 2030.
This scheme is part of the Council’s housing development strategy, which prioritises addressing the climate emergency by designing new homes to deliver as close to net zero carbon as possible with the aim to achieve the Passivhaus standard. The scheme also meets the Council’s objectives of designing new homes to improve the natural environment; reduce fuel poverty; and improve health, wellbeing and comfort.
A major feature of the scheme is the upgrading of the public realm around the existing four blocks on the site, by changing the previous car-dominated areas to a more people focussed environment – making it more pleasant to walk around the site and also making space for a new pocket park to encourage positive resident interactions. The flats also make use of an innovative external louvre design that will allow residents direct control over how much sunlight enters the flat – helping them keep comfortable all year round.
The scheme, which will provide a mix of shared ownership and rented homes, has been designed by T2 Architects using their in house Passivhaus Designer, David Scott, and the planning process has been overseen by Lee Scott, Planning Director. Project Lead for T2, Ross Aylward comments:
“This is a really important scheme for Winchester because it shows how new homes can be delivered directly by a Council without scrimping on the important ingredients. We have designed these new homes to be really wonderful places to live, and the new landscaping will improve existing residents’ quality of life too – but perhaps most importantly at the moment, they will be affordable to live in, not least because they are built to the Passivhaus low energy building standard. We really look forward to seeing the first residents move in 2023.”
The new homes are being constructed by Wates Construction, who interestingly built the original flats on the site in the 60s.