NEWS 5ADF NOVEMBER 2019 WWW.ARCHITECTSDATAFILE.CO.UK
The Royal Institute of British Architects
(RIBA) has named Goldsmith Street in
Norwich, designed by Mikhail Riches with
Cathy Hawley, as the winner of the 2019
RIBA Stirling Prize.
Goldsmith Street is comprised of just
under 100 ultra low-energy homes for
Norwich City Council and is arranged in
seven terrace blocks, modelled on the
Victorian streets of the city’s nearby
‘Golden Triangle’ district.
Rows of two-storey houses are
bookended by three-storey flats, each
with their own front door, lobby space
for prams and bikes, and a private balcony.
The back gardens of the central terraces
share a secure ‘ginnel’ (alleyway) for
children to play together, and a wide
landscaped walkway for communal
gatherings runs perpendicularly through the
middle of the estate. Parking has been
pushed to the outer edges of the
development, ensuring that people “own
the streets, not their cars.”
Goldsmith Street meets rigorous
Passivhaus environmental standards –
remarkable for a dense, mass housingdevelopment. It is a passive solar scheme,
designed to minimise fuel bills for residents
(annual energy costs are estimated to be
70 per cent cheaper than the average
household). To maximise solar gain, all
homes face south and every wall is over
600 mm thick, and the roofs are angled at
15 degrees to ensure each terrace does not
block sunlight from homes in the street
behind. Even the smallest details have been
meticulously considered: letterboxes are
built into external porches, rather than the
front doors, to reduce any possibility
of draughts; and perforated aluminium
brise-soleil provide sun shades above the
windows and doors.
The palette of building materials
references Norwich’s history, such as the
glossy black roof pantiles – a nod to the
city’s Dutch trading links – and the
buildings’ cream-coloured clay bricks,
similar to Victorian terraces nearby. To
ensure the windows echoed Victorian
proportions but also met Passivhaus
requirements, the architects developed a
recessed feature, giving the impression of a
much larger opening but limiting theamount of glass. Bespoke steel mesh garden
gates and brightly coloured front doors give
each home a strong sense of individuality
and ownership.
The 2019 RIBA Stirling Prize judges,
chaired by Julia Barfield, said, “Goldsmith
Street is a modest masterpiece. It is
high-quality architecture in its purest most
environmentally and socially conscious
form. Behind restrained creamy facades 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.”
RIBA President Alan Jones said, “Faced
with a global climate emergency, the worst
housing crisis for generations and crippling
local authority cuts, Goldsmith Street is a
beacon of hope. It is commended not just as
a transformative social housing scheme and
eco-development, but a pioneering
exemplar for other local authorities
to follow.”Passivhaus council estate in Norwich
wins 2019 Stirling Prize
STIRLING PRIZE
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