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Robin Hood Gardens Robin Hood Gardens International Ideas Competition Brief April 11 th 2008 Contents Introduction 3 About Robin Hood Gardens 3 Brief 4 Criteria 6 Submission requirements 7 Jury 7 Competition address 7 Registration 7 Timetable 8 Questions and answers 8 Press 8 Publicity 8 Site access 8 Drawings and Images 9 Eligibility 9 Copyright 9 About Building Design 9 About The Architecture Foundation 9 Appendix 1 10 Appendix 2 10 Appendix 3 12 2 Introduction Robin Hood Gardens (RHG), the 1970s housing development in east London by Alison and Peter Smithson, is currently being considered for demolition and redevelopment, in order to accommodate increased numbers of homes on the site. It is currently being considered for listing: an announcement on this is likely during the course of the competition. We believe that RHG is an exceptional work of architecture which achieves good space standards in its flats and a large amount of open space. It offers much-needed family- sized units to the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. Demolition would also entail a high loss of embodied energy. All reasonable options for retaining it, while allowing for further development, should be explored. We also recognise that RHG has flaws as a place to live. Experience on other estates of its generation has shown that such flaws can be addressed without wholesale demolition. There is, however, a real need for change. Robin Hood Gardens is important in itself, but also for the wider issues it raises about the regeneration of developments of its period. At Park Hill in Sheffield plans are under way to renew a comparable estate, while others are being or have been demolished. These are essential issues for British cities as a whole. The purpose of this International Ideas Competition, which is open and anonymous, is to invite and generate proposals that show how the site can change and be intensified, without destruction of the existing buildings or loss of the site’s essential qualities. These proposals will inform and influence the ongoing debate about RHG in particular, and the wider debate about the retention and transformation of buildings of its generation. It is important that these ideas are considered in the context of the brief and the aspiration of Tower Hamlets Council and English Partnerships to use this important site to generate new affordable and market housing. Qualified architects are invited to submit proposals that show how the site can be renewed and transformed while retaining the best of the existing. The winner and finalists will be chosen by a jury of leading architects and other architectural figures, and will be published in a special feature in Building Design magazine. This is your chance to take a leading part in one of the important current debates in British architecture. About Robin Hood Gardens Robin Hood Gardens was designed in the late 1960s by architects Alison and Peter Smithson. Completed in the 1972, the housing complex in Poplar, east London, drew on 3 the idea of “streets in the sky”, and was inspired by Le Corbusier’s Unite d’Habitation apartments in Marseille, France. BD’s campaign to have the Smithsons’ building listed has attracted more than 2,000 signatures; the estate has been described as a seminal example of post-war social housing design. Architecture minister Margaret Hodge will make her decision on whether to list the building by April 30. The Smithson building consists of two long blocks, one of ten stories and the other of seven, built from pre-cast concrete slabs and containing 213 flats, surrounding a landscaped green. See also Appendices 2 and 3 and articles on RHG on www.bdonline.org.uk for further information. Brief Technical Assessment To ensure viability and to give greater weight to the proposals, the winning entry should successfully take into account and act in response to the technical expectations of the Blackwall Reach landowners, the London Borough of Tower Hamlets (LBTH) and English Partnerships (EP), whilst working towards their overall vision: ‘To provide new homes, new shops, broader community uses, improved connectivity, new business premises and attractive new open spaces, all underpinned by high quality urban design and architecture.’ Two options were presented for the Blackwall Reach Regeneration Project, the first retaining Robin Hood Gardens, the second replacing Robin Hood Gardens with higher density developments. The second option, demolition, was ratified at a cabinet meeting on April 2. The Competition The purpose of the competition is therefore to propose a viable and creative solution in response to the option of retaining Robin Hood Gardens. The proposal should propose imaginative approaches to saving and transforming this existing 70s icon. The competition entries need to show how Robin Hood Gardens (RHG) can be modified, and include an amenity strategy to keep the existing open space - one of the unique features of the estate. The competition will also establish that retention of the estate is a greener option than demolition, and hopes to influence the listing process which is current. To achieve this objective we have outlined in the detail of this document the current position as reported to the cabinet of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets and to enable entrants to fully understand the political context of the competition. 4 The success of the competition will be the mix of the creativity of the idea with the reality of this wider political context. Existing Land Uses According to the report on the 1 st August 2007 Cabinet meeting on the Blackwall Reach Regeneration Project – Draft Development Framework, there are 252 homes in this site area, of which 214 are within the RHG complex. In addition to housing, RHG provides community and sporting facilities, as well as a large open space. It has been estimated that a total £20 million would be required to bring the dwellings up to Decent Homes standards. There is a lack of shops, of well-run community facilities and the open spaces are poorly maintained and under-used. Key Principles for the Regeneration of the Area Key principles for the site area, as reiterated in the minutes of the Cabinet meeting mentioned above, should ensure: - That there is a provision of quality commercial, community and leisure facilities - That the Woolmore Primary School be retained and extended, along with any additional community services needed to support the school. - Freehold ownership of the land on which the Council’s homes are refurbished or replaced will remain with the Council. - The Woolmore Street properties of 1-22 Anderson House, 1-11 Mackrow Walk and 2-10 (Evens) Woolmore Street would be proposed for demolition, to enhance the available public space] - Additional residential development will need to provide a minimum of 35% affordable housing, together with the required levels of family housing across all tenures, in accordance with the Council’s policies. - This is likely to result in the provision of up to 800 new affordable homes depending on whether Robin Hood Gardens is retained or redeveloped. - The financial framework for the building of Council homes is not yet known. - That there is no net loss of public open space and that there is the opportunity to increase the amount of open space provision in the area and improve its quality. - If the existing education, health, youth and community facilities are to be redeveloped, they will need to be fully replaced with modern and improved facilities of at least the same size to ensure they have the capacity to serve an increased residential population. - That pedestrian and cycle linkages to and from the area are improved. Two Options, Three Variations The draft Blackwall Reach Regeneration Development Framework presents two options for the site area – one retaining Robin Hood Gardens, the other replacing the complex. Each option can be further modified by decking and developing, entirely or partially, over the Blackwall Tunnel approach, thereby also improving the access and pollution issues relating to the site area. According to the Sustainability Appraisal of this document (February 2008), the maximum potential of the two options compare as follows: 5 Issue Option 1A (retain existing Option 2A (replace buildings; complete existing; complete decking over tunnel decking over tunnel approach) approach) Housing 1,750-2,050 homes 2,500 – 3,000 homes Open Space 1.5 hectares 2 hectares Commercial Space 33,500 SqM 36,000 SqM (including shops, businesses and hotels) Community and Health 1,150 SqM 1,650 SqM Education 2,700 SqM 3,200 SqM Leisure 700 SqM 700 SqM Other issues EP has identified other issues connected with RHG, such as the condition of its concrete, the difficulty of accessing its services, and security considerations. However, it is beyond the scope of the present ideas competition to address such questions in detail. The purpose of this competition is primarily to address the larger-scale question of intensifying the site. Further Information Further information on the two options initially proposed can be found below, as extracted verbatim from the August 2007 Blackwall Reach Regeneration Project Draft Development Framework. See Appendix 1 The other documents consulted for this brief are the March 2008 Blackwall Reach Regeneration Project Development Framework (Final ), the February 2008 Blackwall Reach Development Framework Initial Sustainability Appraisal Report (Final) and the Report on the 1 st August 2007 Cabinet meeting on the Blackwall Reach Regeneration Project – Draft Development Framework . Criteria This is an ideas competition, and entrants are not asked to submit a fully worked-out design. However proposals must be of a kind that could realistically be developed into a deliverable project, and must respect the brief. Entries will be assessed according to the following criteria: Response to brief (25%) Design quality (50%) Approach to existing buildings (25%) 6 Submission requirements Up to 3 A2 boards including: - outline schedule of accommodation giving number and size of units - plans, sections, elevations and 3-d drawings sufficient to convey the entrant’s ideas - design statement - other material at entrants’ discretion.
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