A hopeful and imaginative approach to social housing that focuses on comfort, community and socialization has earned Appleby Blue Almshouse the UK's top architecture award. The Royal Institute of Architects (RIBA) praised its radical reimagining of the traditional almshouse, turning the senior housing project into something special.
The Appleby Blue Almshouse was designed by Witherford Watson Mann and is located in London. Replacing an abandoned care home that previously stood on the site, the building contains 59 bright and colorful apartments that are arranged around a central courtyard filled with greenery and a variety of trees, as well as a water feature.
While not exactly the most exciting or eye-catching project to win an architecture award in recent years, the brick-and-wood building does ooze class and showcases a deft touch for the little details that make life more pleasant.
Light-filled, terracotta-paved hallways connect the apartments and include customizable planters and benches. These form a so-called "social corridor" that facilitates spontaneous interaction among residents. Automated vents alongside windows are designed to allow the corridors to collect heat in the winter to form a kind of winter garden, while also releasing that heat to maintain a comfortable temperature in the summer.
Additionally, a spacious roof terrace provides a communal space for residents that encourages them to get fresh air. It continues the understated approach to accessibility with small touches like planting beds that have been raised to make them easier to use and hand rails for support.
"Designing social housing for later life is too often reduced to a simple provision of service," says RIBA Stirling Prize Jury member Ingrid Schroder. "Appleby Blue, however, is a provision of pure delight. Its architects have crafted high-quality spaces that are generous and thoughtful, blending function and community to create environments that truly care for their residents.
"This project is a clarion call for a new form of housing at a pivotal moment. Built against the backdrop of two crises, an acute housing shortage and a growing loneliness epidemic among older people, Appleby Blue offers a hopeful and imaginative response, where residents and the surrounding community are brought together through the transformative nature of the design."
The Appleby Blue Almshouse is the 29th annual winner of the RIBA Stirling Prize. The winner was announced during a ceremony on October 16 in London and reflects a growing focus from the influential body on highlighting projects that enrich communities, with recent winners including social housing, a seniors' daycare center, and a rail network. Despite this, there has been some controversy that the prize is too London-centric.
Source: RIBA
