Peter Murray pulls out highlights of the NLA back catalogue: new ideas for housing

Back in 2015 when Boris was Mayor and London needed to double the number of homes it was delivering, the NLA called out to its members for ideas to help solve that crisis. We were looking for lots of different ways to build more homes, and weren’t disappointed. We received several hundred suggestions and selected 100 for our exhibition and publication ‘New ideas for housing’.

 

We looked for thinking that was outside the box but was deliverable; and we wanted designs that filled a gap left by the large scale housebuilders. We were sent solutions around modular construction, custom build, innovative ideas around planning and finance, infilling, infrastructure and the densification of the suburbs.

 

The reward for the 10 winners of the competition was to present their ideas to the housing team at the GLA at the invitation of the then Deputy Mayor for Housing Rick Blakeway.

 

There was a number of schemes that suggested that we build on top of existing buildings. Carlo Ratti, Alejandro Aravena and others proposed ‘onfill’ as opposed to ‘infill’ developments; Bill Price at WSP suggested building on top of public assets like hospitals, libraries and schools. Bell Phillips came up with a proposal for building on top of flat-roofed post war housing estates using a modular volumetric kit. Icancanu wanted Londoners to add a floor to their homes and rent it out.

 

In the light of these suggestions it is interesting to note that in March this year Robert Jenrick, the Secretary of State our Housing, Communities and Local Government launched ‘Planning for the future’ - setting out further planning reforms which included proposals to encourage additions to rooftops. He said the Government would introduce new permitted development rights for building upwards on existing buildings by the summer.

 

While commending the idea of building upwards we had not foreseen that such proposals might be carried out under permitted development rights, which is hardly welcome for a typology which requires a high level of design sensitivity. It also reflects serious schizophrenia in Government policy, sitting as it does in the same document as a chapter called ‘Creating beautiful, sustainable places’.

 

Despite these reservations, one can look back at ‘New Ideas for housing’ as a useful and productive contribution to the discussion around how we deliver more homes in the capital - illustrating NLA’s mantra of bringing people together to shape a better city.