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6 October 2009
Countryside Properties has received its 10th Building for Life Standard for design and place making excellence at Stone Rise, Dartford. Building for Life is the national standard for well-designed homes and neighbourhoods, and the Group holds more Building for Life Standards than any other private developer.
Stone Rise, Dartford has achieved a Building for Life Silver Standard, which reflects the strong design and environmental qualities of the scheme. Stone Rise now goes forward into the Building for Life 2009 Awards which will be announced in December.
The assessors’ view was that, “Stone Rise meets the challenges of a very difficult site blighted by contamination of subsoil and issues related to an adjoining landfill site. The use of the £60K house types leads to very high performance standards (EcoHomes Very Good and Lifetime Homes). Space standards exceed Housing Quality Indicators.”
The 37 homes at Stone Rise were designed by PCKO Architects and developed as part of the Homes and Communities Agency’s Design for Manufacture (DfM) competition. The competition, which was launched in 2005, challenged the housebuilding industry to create high quality, sustainable and well-designed homes for a minimal construction cost. Stone Rise has succeeded in showing how DfM can construct environmentally friendly homes efficiently, without sacrificing quality and sustainability standards.
“The success of the Homes and Communities Agency’s Design for Manufacture (DfM) programme is clearly evident in Stone Rise in Kent,” said Jonathan Martin, area director for the Homes and Communities Agency in the Kent and Essex Thames Gateway.
“It is very pleasing to see the success this programme is enjoying. It is proof that higher design standards, combined with high quality workmanship, are not beyond the reach of home purchasers.”
Stone Rise has also recently received a commendation in the 'small house' category of the British Home Awards 2009.
Notes
Building for Life promotes design excellence and celebrates best practice in the house building industry. The 20 Building for Life criteria embody CABE's vision of functional, attractive and sustainable housing. New housing developments are scored against the criteria to assess the quality of their design. Building for Life standards are given annually to new housing projects that demonstrate a commitment to high design standards and good place making.
Building for Life is a joint initiative between CABE and the Home Builders Federation, supported by Design for Homes. Developments are judged on four main criteria which are character; roads, parking and pedestrianisation; design and construction and environment and community. Visit Building for Life for more info.
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Information correct as at 06/10/2009