Shoe factory scheme wins design award
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A development on a former shoe factory site has been named overall winner at the 2010 Housing Design Awards.
The Icon development in Street, Somerset, is built on a 4.9 hectare site that used to belong to shoe maker Clarks.
The Clark family stipulated that the development must provide homes that were ecologically sound and met a variety of need when it sold the land.
The judges said the initial parcel of 138 homes at the site suggest it is ‘set to be the first real milestone in the evolution of layout, house and care parking since the design of Poundbury’.
Like Poundbury, Prince Charles’ model development, the layout is designed to replicate how a settlement would have appeared before cars. However, modern needs have also been catered for, and many of the homes have garages.
Crest Nicholson is the developer and contractor for the scheme, which was designed by architects Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios, with Grant Associates as the public realm architect. Mendip District Council is the planning authority.
Speaking at the awards ceremony housing minister Grant Shapps praised the scheme, and said it showed how effective consultation with local residents could be, an approach that is favoured by the government.
‘Rather than being told what will be built and where, residents of villages, towns and cities will be given powerful financial incentives to develop their own vision for the community,’ he said. ‘And they will demand great design that meets their needs.’
See more on the Icon development and all the other winning schemes
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