The local authority commissioned the development of a new social housing typology, specifically designed for senior living across six irregular sites. The brief was to design one, two and three-bedroom, single-storey affordable homes to be owned and managed by the borough. Courtyard Housing is derived from the traditional English almshouse typology, typified by landscaped gardens and the intimate, human scale of the architecture.
Designed to be small in both mass and dimensions to increase site density, the L-shaped plan form arranges accommodation around a small private courtyard, giving residents direct access to the outdoors. The flexible plan allows the configuration of each home to be flipped and turned to take advantage of sunlight, allowing living spaces to face the communal landscaping.
The prototype can be clustered and arranged for deployment across a range of sites. Due to the success of the first two phases, this typology was rolled out to further infill sites in the borough.
This isn’t just good council housing, it is good housing.
The Architects’ Journal
