Preston Guild is a famous and unique celebration with more than 800 years of tradition. The Guild dates back to the granting of Preston's first Charter by King Henry in 1179. Linking the city's glorious heritage and past with its ambitions for the future, the Guild is Preston's most important and historic event and is held every 20 years. The next Guild is in 2012 with the theme of "Innovation and Creativity".

Community Gateway Association, as the largest housing association in Preston, and working in partnership with Preston City Council, is keen to be involved and is sponsoring this architectural competition with the aim, subject to funding availability, to have the selected scheme built and occupied by the time of the main Guild events in mid-2012.

Architects are invited to develop innovative design proposals for a social housing development in the centre of Preston, where people will aspire to live.  The winning scheme, with an emphasis on design quality and energy efficiency, will be a project demonstrating that affordable does not equate to ordinary, and should act as an exemplar for future social housing developments in Preston and elsewhere.

OVERALL AIM AND PROJECT ASPIRATIONS

The Competition Sponsor is looking for the highest quality designs that will integrate sustainable, contemporary architecture with affordability.

The design teams will need to:

• Demonstrate a clear understanding of the design of family housing which has the potential to adapt as aspirations and needs of the family change, to create flexible/desirable dwellings. The dwellings must be capable of adapting to changing patterns of living in the future.
• Demonstrate a sound grasp of financial parameters, which will limit the budget available for this type of affordable housing. Cost is a key issue.
• Maximise the potential for these new exemplar dwellings to provide a transformational role in accelerating the regeneration of the area, appealing to all members of the existing area, including the substantial BME community in the Meadow Street area. 
• The new houses and bungalows should help to create an attractive neighbourhood, where, once again, people are proud to live.
• Address and prioritise the options for designing a highly sustainable dwelling with greatly reduced carbon footprint, and low running costs.
• Consider the use of modern methods of construction and integrate sustainable materials to reduce the carbon footprint. 
• Produce a scheme that celebrates the Preston 2012 Guild's ambitious theme of "Innovation and Creativity". Whilst being innovative, it will be capable of being delivered.
• Demonstrate an imaginative approach and 3 dimensional skills to combine houses and bungalows in a new development, which enhances its setting and the adjacent St. Ignatius' Conservation Area.

1. ASSESSMENT OF DESIGN PROPOSALS

The design proposals will be gauged against the following criteria:

• Response to aspirations noted under Section 1, the site and the detailed briefing requirements.
• Innovation, flair and high design standards.
• A bespoke scheme that can act as an exemplar for future housing developments and can be delivered within the budgetary constraints involved.
• Quality of the proposed team/personnel involved and previous experience of delivering projects.
• The ability of the selected team to work closely with the client body and engage with the local community
• Recognition of specific local community needs and a demonstration of communication skills appropriate to the context of the scheme. 

2. PROJECT SPONSOR

Community Gateway Association
Community Gateway Association is funding the competition and acting as client/employer.  Community Gateway Association is a community business that was set up to meet the housing needs of people in Preston and the surrounding areas and received the transfer of the council housing from Preston City Council in November 2005. CGA is the first housing association in England to be set up as a 'community gateway'. This means the association places tenants and communities at the heart of its decisions, and gives local people lots of opportunities to shape its work. Community Gateway Association (CGA) will be working with the City Council and tenant representatives to assess the competition entries. The winning architect will need to work in conjunction with all the stakeholders to develop the project. 

For more information on CGA, click on www.communitygateway.co.uk

BACKGROUND TO THE SITE

The site is owned by CGA. Meadow House, a sheltered housing scheme, which was demolished by CGA in 2008, previously occupied this brownfield site. It is located on the outskirts of Preston City Centre, close to the Ringway. The site area is about 0.275 hectares.
The site is bounded by roads on 2 sides: Meadow St. to the south, and St. Paul's Road to the east. It is flat with few features except a group of mature trees at the west end and some trees on the Meadow St. frontage. The trees are not subject to Tree Preservation Orders.
It was chosen because of its interesting and central location, adjacent to the St. Ignatius Conservation Area, and the surrounding varied mixture of residential and commercial properties. There is a significant black and minority ethnic community in the St Paul's Road area, which adjoins the site.
On the other side of Ringway, Preston City Council, Grosvenor Estates and Lend Lease have formed the Tithebarn Partnership to achieve an ambitious, wide-ranging redevelopment of the city centre. The boundary of the Tithebarn area is immediately adjacent to the Meadow House site.

For further information on the Tithebarn Project, click on www.prestontithebarn.com