Housing Design Awards 2022
Design South East is proud to sponsor the Housing Design Awards that recognise design excellence. The awards were launched in 1948 – in the same sitting of Parliament as the National Health Service – to reward better municipal post-war rebuilding. Entry is now open for submissions for the 2022 awards.
Judging
The awards are judged by a cross-disciplinary panel of 20 judges from key industry stakeholders, including DLUCH, Homes England, GLA, NHBC and HBF and all five professional institutions – RICS, RIBA, RTPI, Landscape Institute and Chartered Institute of Architectural Technologists. The judges typically visit 50 schemes shortlisted from about 150 entries each year. The recently appointed Head of Architecture at the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUCH), Sarah Allan, also joins the panel this year.
Award categories
Awards are given each year for schemes with planning approval but which are not occupied (Project) and those which are occupied and at least 25% built out (Completed). There are a number of award categories promoted by the DLUCH; a Private Rented Sector (PRS) award, which Design South East presented in 2021; an award for Modern Methods of Construction (MMC); and an award for the scheme which is the best complement to existing development, the Good Neighbour Award, presented each year by the housing and planning minister. The minister also presents the Winner of Winners Award, which in 2020 went to Rochester Riverside Phase 1B, a scheme with which DSE was involved with for many years.
Award presentations
This year the presentations that traditionally take place in London will become a series of ‘Look and Learn’ events around the country. These will take place from July to October 2022 on location at the award-winning developments, so that the industry can access and experience those schemes that the judges think worthy of commendation.
Entry process
Entry is online using a simple standardised template that becomes a database for use by awards partners, including government departments and agencies, as a resource of current housing practice. The department encourages LPAs to invite scheme promoters to put forward any developments that can act as local benchmarks for good quality design. Project Award entries must have received full planning approval between 1 January 2021 and the entry deadline date of 4 March 2022. Completed Award entries should not have been more than 25% occupied at 1 January 2020.
Promotion
The development story of winning schemes is often filmed, complete with interviews with residents. Project award winners become animations. Films of more than 80 recent winners and the project information on more than a thousand recent schemes can be seen online at www.hdawards.org.
