"Design my development": which site to choose?
CABE asked the site sponsors to put forward a case selling their site to you - their potential partners for delivering this project.
Here is what they had to say:
Andrew Armes, Milton Keynes
“Milton Keynes offers by far the most challenging site of the competition. The problem is one of creating local identity - real neighbourhoods that flourish and mature - in an urban form that would be too easy to fill with housing that has no sense of place.
It may sound a like a strange way to inspire you but the Fairfield site is not perfect. Milton Keynes itself is not perfect. But what we do have here is world class landscape and a fantastic infrastructure. What we lack is the great architecture and great places that go in between.
Architecture of its time is being delivered in urban areas, while the suburbs accept developer-led architecture that replicates designs of the past. We are committed to making Milton Keynes the place where suburban design turns the corner and we need your fresh ideas to help us do so.
Entrants for this site have a real opportunity to do something momentous, achieve something completely new in the suburbs and change developers’ views of what people really want from housing.”
More about the Milton Keynes site
David Butterfield, Stoke-on-Trent
“Stoke-on-Trent is a prominent site and we want it to set the benchmark in a wider regeneration programme. We are aiming high. We want to break the mould of terraced houses. We are looking for something different and innovative.
We want to show that Stoke is a nice place to live. Stoke-on-Trent is a shrinking city - shedding its population at the rate of 1,000 people per year. The situation is urgent - industry has gone and if we leave it too long it will be harder to recover. It is recoverable now. We are aiming to turn this round in two years, not ten.
There are massive amounts of resources to make this happen. The partnership is solid - it has the backing of the Major, the City Council, English Partnerships, the RSL and RENEW.
So, the money is here. The planning is here. We are all here and we want it to happen. We now need something to build. We want quality and we will build it fast.”
More about the Stone-on-trent site
Jan Fitzgerald, Sheffield
“What we have with Sky Edge is a ‘see and be seen site’. The topography is fantastic - it is a green landscape setting, on top of an escarpment. Sheffield is a very compact city, built on seven hills, and from one direction at Sky Edge you feel a very close physical connection with the Peak District and from the other you connect with the city centre. At 140 hectares there is enough space to create a real place.
“We think it provides the opportunity for an exemplar development to showcase, not least with climate action – the site is right up in the weather, and so renewables will have a big role to play. It poses interesting challenges too – the designers will need to look hard at the best ways to invest in green space to ensure it is a long term positive asset, not a liability.”
