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Clarion opens applications for William Sutton Prize with focus on sustainability
Clarion Housing Group has opened applications for the fourth year of its annual innovation prize, with a new judging panel and changes to the award categories.
Winners of the William Sutton Prize will receive up to £20,000 from the group’s charitable arm, Clarion Futures, to help develop their ideas for a new product or service aimed at improving society.
The prize is named after Clarion’s founder, 19th century entrepreneur William Sutton, who bequeathed his fortune to social housing.
It is split into two categories. The William Sutton Prize for Placemaking and Affordable Housing Design will this year be renamed the William Sutton Prize for Sustainability and Placemaking, with architects and designers encouraged to bid.
The winning concept will be trialled on one of Clarion’s upcoming development sites.
For this year’s William Sutton Prize for Social Innovation, organisers have set ‘a home for all’ as the theme with a focus on tackling homelessness and temporary accommodation needs, housing for older people and technology to aid successful tenancies.
Clare Miller, chief executive of Clarion, will lead the judging panels for both prizes.
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Architect and previous prize winner Jas Bhalla will be among five other judges joining him for the sustainability and placemaking category.
Judges for the social innovation prize will include Sebastian Rocca, founder of Micro Rainbow, a winner in the prize’s first year, as well as Jeremy Porteus, chief executive of Housing LIN.
Ms Miller said: “William Sutton’s legacy was to transform lives and communities and it’s been a real privilege to see our winners doing the same over the last few years.
“There are some hugely talented architects, designers and social entrepreneurs out there and through the prize, we’re committed to helping them develop their ideas to make a difference to their communities.”
Applications close at midday on 6 October.
Last year’s winner of the design prize was Ecomotive and SNUG Homes, for a training hub providing teaching on building eco-friendly community modular housing.
Anna Hope, director of training and consultancy at Ecomotive, said: “We would encourage anyone with projects or ideas in the field of sustainable housing and placemaking to apply for this award, which is unique in its scope, vision and the practical support available to help turn ideas into reality.”
The social innovation prize went to the Hackney School of Food, which educates primary school children about food production.
Polly Praill, head of development at the Hackney School of Food, said: “From the outset, we wanted the Hackney School of Food to be replicated across many more schools, sharing our vision for food education with communities across the country.
“Winning the William Sutton Prize has enabled us to make this a reality by funding the development of a toolkit to equip and inspire others to create their own school of food – we’re excited to see what happens next.”
Clarion is the UK’s largest housing association, owning and managing around 125,000 homes.
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