Shortlist - Lawrenny Sustainable Housing Development
29 May 2008

The RIBA Competitions Office and the Royal Society of Architects in Wales (RSAW) are pleased to announce the names of the practices short-listed to the competition for a new sustainable housing development in Lawrenny, Pembrokeshire.

The first stage of the competition attracted a phenomenal response with 92 Expressions of Interest from architectural practices throughout the UK and Europe. Lawrenny Enterprises were astounded by the range and variety of practices who applied and the exceptional quality of the submissions.

The Jury Panel consisted of Directors from Lawrenny Enterprises together with Richard Nightingale (Cullum and Nightingale Architects Ltd) acting as the RIBA Adviser. The Panel faced a difficult task in selecting a long-list, but selected those practices who they felt had demonstrated a real empathy for the project and would be best suited to rise to the challenges and opportunities of the rural development site. The eight practices invited to attend an interim interview were:

Ash Sakula Architects
Davies Sutton Architecture
Featherstone Associates
Inglis Badrashi Loddo Architects
David Kohn Architects
Letts Wheeler Architecture and Design Ltd.
Riches Hawley Mikhail Architects
Tom Russell Architects.

The interviews gave each practice an opportunity to discuss their possible approach to the project and to explore potential future working relationships with Lawrenny Enterprises. The following practices have been invited to develop design proposals for the development:
Ash Sakula Architects
Davies Sutton Architecture
Letts Wheeler Architecture and Design Ltd.
Tom Russell Architects
Adrian Lort-Phillips (Managing Director, Lawrenny Enterprises) commented: ‘There is no doubt that we have got four incredibly talented teams lined up for the final stage. I am certain we would never have found them had we not run the RIBA competition. Now we move to the design stage where it's going to get really exciting. We can't wait to see what the teams come up with.’

The four teams will present their design proposals to the Jury Panel at a final assessment to be held in Lawrenny in late July 2008.


Welsh Housing Competition – RIBA
29 Apr 2008 - Deadline for expressions of interest
£3m affordable, low-carbon exemplar family housing development
Location: Lawrenny village, Pembrokeshire
Context: located in Pembrokeshire Coast National Park
Longlist: 8; Shortlist: 4 - £4,000 honorarium to develop design proposal
Housing to achieve a minimum Level 5 in the Code for Sustainable Homes

Invited Design Competition - Release from RIBA 25 Mar 2008:
Expressions of Interest sought for a sustainable, low carbon housing development - Lawrenny, Pembrokeshire

The Royal Society of Architects in Wales (RSAW) and the RIBA Competitions Office are delighted to announce the launch of an Invited Design Competition on behalf of Lawrenny Enterprises. Architects are invited to submit Expressions of Interest for a sustainable, low carbon housing development in Lawrenny village, Pembrokeshire.

Lawrenny village lies in the heart of the beautiful Pembrokeshire Coast National Park and its position on the banks of the Cleddau (Milford Haven) Estuary makes it one of the most desirable places to live in Wales. Despite its obvious draw as a ‘holiday home’ village, many families live year round in Lawrenny and it maintains a strong community spirit. The land surrounding the former ‘estate village’ has been in the ownership of one family for several generations and the maintenance of a rented housing sector has ensured that local families have remained in Lawrenny. However the increasing popularity of the National Park and soaring house prices means there is a shortage of affordable housing and many of those struggling to find homes are the children and grandchildren of the local families, without whom the sense of community and continuity within the village would be the poorer. The proposed relocation of Lawrenny Enterprises’ Home Farm operation away from the centre of the village provides an exciting opportunity for a circa £3m development of sustainable, affordable family homes.

The successful architect will need to design an exemplar development that whilst appropriate to its context can be seen as a natural progression of rural design in the 21st Century. Homes within the scheme should look to achieve Level 5 of the Code for Sustainable Homes as a minimum, and if achievable, a carbon neutral development.

From the initial Expressions of Interest, up to eight architects will be long-listed and invited to attend a short interview to enable the client to learn more about each practice, their initial thoughts about the project and to explore potential working relationships. Four teams will then be short-listed and invited to proceed to the design phase of the competition. Each of the four short-listed teams will receive an honorarium of £4,000 (+VAT) to develop a design proposal. For a Preliminary Briefing Paper contact the RIBA Competitions Office - Tel. +44(0)113-234-1335 - or visit www.architecture.com/competitions. The Expression of Interest deadline is 14.00hrs on Tuesday 29 April 2008.



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