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Council housing scheme wins the RIBA Stirling Prize
A social housing scheme in Norwich has been announced as the winner of the Royal Institute of British Architects’ (RIBA) Stirling Prize.
Goldsmith Street, a set of almost 100 energy-efficient homes designed for Norwich City Council, was hailed as a “modest masterpiece” by the Stirling Prize judges.
The scheme was designed by architects Mikhail Riches and is made up of rows of two-storey houses, bookended by three-storey flats, each with their own front door, space for prams and bikes, and a private balcony.
Goldsmith Street meets the Passivhaus Standard, a voluntary building performance standard for energy efficiency in a building, meaning energy costs are estimated to be 70% cheaper than the average household.
Earlier this year, Goldsmith Street also won the Neave Brown Award for Housing, which recognises the best new example of affordable housing in the UK.
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Previous winners of the Stirling Prize, awarded each year for excellence in architecture, include the Bloomberg Building in London and Hastings Pier.
Julia Barfield, chair of the RIBA Stirling Prize judging panel, said: “[Goldsmith Street] is high-quality architecture in its purest, most environmentally and socially conscious form.
“Behind restrained creamy façades are impeccably detailed, highly sustainable homes – an incredible achievement for a development of this scale.
“This is proper social housing, over 10 years in the making, delivered by an ambitious and thoughtful council. These desirable, spacious, low-energy properties should be the norm for all council housing.”
