‘A beacon of hope’ – Norwich council estate wins this year’s Riba Stirling Prize for Britain’s best new building

The eco-friendly Goldsmith Street development took 10 years to complete and is made up of 105 ultra low-energy homes

A council estate in Norwich has been recognised as Britain’s best new building by the Royal Institute of British Architects (Riba).

Made up of 105 ultra low-energy homes, the Goldsmith Street development took 10 years to complete for Norwich City Council.

The project beat the £1bn London Bridge Station overhaul and the £140m Macallan Distillery in Speyside to take top prize.

It is the first time in the history of the competitionthat a council development has been recognised in this manner.

The development is the largest in the UK to meet the demanding Passivhaus international energy performance standard, which aims to use very little energy for heating and cooling.

As a result fuel bills expected to be up to 70 per cent less than the average home..

“Faced with a global climate emergency, the worst housing crisis for generations and crippling local authority cuts, Goldsmith Street is a beacon of hope,” said Riba president Alan Jones.

“It is commended not just as a transformative social housing scheme and eco-development, but a pioneering exemplar for other local authorities to follow."

The innovative Goldsmith Street development took 10 years to complete and is made up of almost 100 ultra low-energy homes (Tim Crocker ) (Tim Crocker)

Report argues for 'high-quality, well-designed dwellings in tree-lined streets' (Tim Crocker)

Inspired by the 19th Century ‘Golden Triangle’ nearby, the Mikhail Riches design aims provides high quality streetscape and amenity spaces and a mix of 45 houses and 60 flats.

Flats are designed with no common parts, with every dwelling having its own front door at street level, promoting a sense of ownership and identity for each flat, all emphasised by 16 different front door colours.

Letterboxes are built into external porches, rather than the front doors, to reduce draughts.

(Tim Crocker ) (Tim Crocker)

The streetscape and landscape design also aims to promote safe small children’s play and provide site wide ecological enhancement, with two landscaped play areas onsite.

“This is exactly the sort of development we are looking for," said former Minister of State for Housing and Planning Kit Malthouse.

"It all hangs together to show that it is possible to create dense housing, on a gentle basis, that is both beautiful and liveable and human in scale."