Hemingway issues housing challenge

British designer Wayne Hemingway today calls upon house builders and architects to leave behind their traditional differences, and enter their best joint schemes for the 2008 Building for Life Awards.

Winning projects should demonstrate a commitment to high design standards, good place-making and sustainability, but Hemmingway believes an endemic failure by the two professions to work well together is standing in the way.

He explains ‘It’s like [the film] “Lost in Translation” on a national scale. Neither side values what the other one brings. Unless they start talking and drop all the old stereotypes about prima donna architects and box-bashing builders, we will never see the quality of housing to which everyone aspires.

‘House builders, faced with the challenge of [creating] zero-carbon homes and Building for Life, will need really good design teams to win sites for which these are compulsory requirements. And conversely, architects have a major business opportunity – of immense social value – opening up in the residential market.’

Building for Life is an initiative led by the government’s Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE) and the Home Builders Federation. The closing date for entries is 29 February, and winners will be announced in September. To apply, visit www.buildingforlife.org.