Europan 8: Oldham

The site

The competition site was in the Werneth area of Oldham, near Manchester in the North West region of England. The challenge was to create a variety of housing, defining a new urban block and emphasising better links to existing amenities. This required proposals that balanced housing, public space and other uses.

Oldham has suffered from a decline in its economy and population during the last 30 years. It has an over supply of small houses built for the workforce of the cotton mills that were the main employers of the town. The masterplan for the town will involve clearing some of this existing 19th century housing and replacing it with a greater variety of high-quality dwellings set within a reconfigured street pattern. The existing community is ethnically diverse, with many large families living in the area who need large dwellings. However, this situation may change and entrants were asked to consider the architectural and urban implications of this possible future change in requirements.

The brief

The former factory site is surrounded on three sides by housing and on the other by a small industrial area that will also become part of the larger masterplan for the area. The planning of the site required a careful urban design solution that, whilst encouraging innovation, had to read as a cohesive whole. A key element of the brief was to increase permeability and integrate the new housing with the streets to the south that are to remain unchanged. The brief called for 1.5 car spaces per dwelling, which presented a significant challenge to entrants, in order to provide the required level of car parking without it dominating the environment.

The challenge for this low-rise area was to re-invent the model of the terraced house to suit the varying needs of larger families and single person households. This would entail reconfiguring the road layouts to allow for more generous buildings and a greater amount of private open space.

Competitors were also invited to put forward innovative proposals for minimising energy consumption.