Brief

brief informatives

Proposals should be able to demonstrate how the multiple attributes outlined below are considered in their holistic response and how innovative approaches, as well as product and process innovations, are deployed.

Age friendly & Inclusive living

  • A well designed, accessible and attractive place that functions well for a range of lifestyles, creating a sense of place in a community. Offers a sympathetic response to local and site context and can be configured for a range of densities e.g. At 75 dwellings per ha as well as at 30-40.
  • Home and neighbourhood to be designed for mixed households with due consideration given to HAPPI design principles supporting healthy living.
  • Flexibility of design of mainstream homes with the provision for adapting to changing occupancy needs over time and allow easier maintenance.
  • Provision and interaction of shared facilities, space and management to support social interaction, social connections and create community cohesion.

Low Environmental Impact

  • Energy and systems efficiencies include low carbon technologies and substantially reduce energy demand and greenhouse gases in line with the Government’s net zero emissions target.
  • Homes which use emerging technologies to reduce carbon emissions beyond the 2025 Future Homes Standard.
  • Whole life performance of homes has been considered for value for all stakeholders. The proposal should deliver the lowest possible running costs.
  • Construction method and materials used reduce embodied impacts, such as responsible sourcing, low environmental impact and circular economy (including design for reuse).

Healthy Living

  • Indoor environmental conditions are optimised for thermal comfort, daylight, noise, ventilation, air quality, and safety.
  • Built-in resilience by mitigating the risks from changing climate such as flood risk, overheating and water scarcity.
  • Functional needs of a home are met with adequate floor area, storage, range of socialising spaces, visual connection to the street/communal outdoor space to encourage feelings of connectedness, and access to outdoor space.
  • Digital enabling solutions should be considered with due regard for data security – from home working to care requirements. Integrates digital infrastructure to engage the residents with the wider community.

Deliverable and Scalable

  • Addresses productivity challenges through speed of delivery and the ability to up-skill the supply chain.
  • Enables cost reduction at scale to make mainstream homes affordable through replicability & mass customisation in varied build typologies and context.
  • Delivers building quality by using construction techniques and digital technologies both on- and off-site; sharing information with stakeholders to demonstrate value in construction, in-use performance and innovation applications.

Additional issues that the competition may address are:

  • Mixed tenure and non-tenure specific solutions
  • A mix of typologies
  • Social integration enabling increased social connections, benefiting health and wellbeing
  • Encourages diversity of construction methods and brings MMC and its benefits to the market
  • Enabling digital construction and operation
  • Whole life costs

competition phases

Phase One

Phase One of the Home of 2030 design competition seeks to:

  • Invite teams to illustrate a multidisciplinary approach to a deliverable housing concept which can be configured at different densities/scales.
  • Stimulate a wide range of ideas, designs, products and solutions, from across the industry.
  • Seek initial responses from designers, developers, SMEs, contractors, funders and product suppliers, as well as landowners (including local authorities), to propose practical ideas to address the brief in different contexts.
  • Integrate innovative approaches and technologies to delivering the objectives – [with reference to the Innovation Challenge Directory and other products and systems].
  • Showcase products and innovations that exist in the market which require opportunities to scale up their application.
  • Seek new entrants to the market from UK or beyond for diversity of supply.

Phase 1 is non-site-specific and entries are submitted anonymously.

After evaluation, the shortlisted 6 entries will be selected for progression to Phase 2 and identified for publicity purposes.

Phase Two

The aim of Phase 2 is for the shortlisted teams to produce deliverable proposals with supporting detail for a live site development. The shortlisted teams will each receive an honorarium on completion of the Phase 2 requirements and will need to declare the key members of their delivery proposition and the competencies and eligibility of their team.

The Phase 2 brief will require the shortlisted teams to develop their concept from Phase 1 in sufficient detail for evaluation to satisfy the requirement for a deliverable product for an identified site (outside London) in a growth area for a proposed parcel of up to 100 homes. Land will be identified by Homes England in the form of a serviced site with key infrastructure in place within a large scale phased mixed development. Phase 2 proposals should set out a typical street frontage for around 12 homes, to include detailed configurations for at least two different typologies, to fully illustrate the deliverability and versatility of their concept proposal. Proposals should also show how they respond to local distinctiveness and provide opportunity for community cohesion.

Phase 2 submissions will include design and development proposals, outline costs and implementation plans. The final submissions will be evaluated against the briefing criteria and promoted and given publicity after their honorarium is rewarded, before the next phase of activities commence.

Outcomes from public engagement and the Home of 2030 young persons’ competition will be available to all entrants as background to the competition requirements at this phase.

The six Phase 2 submissions will be assessed according to the published criteria, with honoraria awarded to all shortlisted entrants and awards for three winners.

beyond the competition

On completion of Phase 2 of the RIBA Open Ideas competition, winners will be introduced to Homes England development partners to explore the possibility of developing bids for a series of homes on Homes England land. Should homes subsequently be built, this will serve as a real-world exemplar of a viable age-friendly and energy efficient development.

The competition’s aim is to champion innovation by engaging with leading technical and design sectors to submit competition entries which lead to viable designs which could be adopted by the housebuilding sector and to engage with consumers and businesses in the further normalisation of this form of housing.