Diagram of urban renewal projects showing refurbished terraced homes, green corridors, community spaces, and educational and support facilities with annotations.

Liverpool Townhouse Competition

Competition winner with ‘Liverpool School of Building’

Harrison Stringfellow Architects was named ‘First Prize Winner’, for our ‘Liverpool School of Building’ concept, which combined training in green skills for individuals with a sensitive redevelopment in order to improve social, economic, and environmental sustainability.

Judge Isabel Allen, Editor of Architecture Today, commented that the design tackles “the tricky issue of how to address historic residential stock when the land value is too low to absorb the costs associated with refurbishment”, and noted the way in which the project combines an enjoyment of the historic façade through repurposing the ground floor bay window as the main entrance with a strategy of using MMC to create modern well-insulated homes.”

The competition looked for innovative redesign or refurbishment solutions for a row of 11 terraced dwellings, in Wavertree, Liverpool that tackled Net Zero and Lifetime Home residential redevelopment. Current land value will never meet the cost of refurbishment, however, over 26% of property stock in the UK is terraced housing in various conditions. There is no carbon budget to ignore this fact. This proposal tackles the challenge of bringing back into use those properties in an uninhabitable condition.

Illustration of a multi-story house showing the ground floor, first floor, and second floor with details of how space is used on each level, including a main entrance, living areas, bedrooms, and roof space improvements.

Axo of typical unit: 1 Bed plus

Row of abandoned brick buildings with boarded-up windows, some with peeling paint, and a parking lot in front with a white car. A street sign indicates all ball games are prohibited, with a pole-mounted security camera nearby.

“The winning design had sustainability at its heart – and that’s going to be vital”

Steve Rotheram, Mayor of the Liverpool City Region

An illustration of a modern, multi-story residential building with retail storefronts on the ground level, set in an urban environment with surrounding houses and streets.

Existing Street Elevation

“The simplicity and equity contained in the idea allow this concept to be scaled endlessly from one neighbourhood to another. Unlike other concepts, it prioritises material reuse and embraces the principles of the circular economy.”

Muyiwa Oki, RIBA President Elect 2023-25

Infographic showing sustainable building practices and community strategies, including demolition, material reuse, prefabrication, outdoor space, biodiversity, and a wider circular economy, with step-by-step illustrations and labels.

Key principles

Current land value will never meet the cost of refurbishment, however, over 26% of property stock in the UK is terraced housing in various conditions. There is no carbon budget to ignore this fact. This proposal tackles the challenge of bringing back into use those properties in an uninhabitable condition.

Located to complement neighbouring amenities such as the corner shop and childrens centre, Liverpool School of Building will provide an open source training hub to upskill, support, learn and share knowledge to meet the demand for green skills in the Liverpool City Region and support individuals undertaking fabric upgrades to their homes.

For the remaining properties, the main structure, thermal envelope and building systems will be completed quickly and efficiently to minimise build time and disruption. Reductions in fuel poverty and supporting community cohesion will be possible through investment in areas that have seen mass displacement through demolition and retaining the existing character while inserting high-quality, controlled building fabric.

Labour-intensive, yet carbon-efficient jobs, such as repurposing waste material, can be completed by individuals over time without overwhelming and affecting well-being. In this case, to create high-quality biodiverse external spaces.

Combining the efficiencies of modern methods of construction with individual enthusiasm for tackling climate change and the willingness to DIY to reduce costs, will in turn benefit social, economic and environmental sustainability.

Architectural blueprint showing a residential building design including a detailed floor plan with units, exterior elevation with front facade, and notes on modifications for improved energy efficiency and housing flexibility.

Ground Floor Proposal

Judges comments:

“A joyful and engaging submission demonstrating an understanding of the challenges of back-to-back Victorian terraces and how these could be adapted to turn the small existing footprints into comfortable, energy-efficient homes, with much needed outdoor amenity space for communal gardening.”

Sarah Allan, Head of Architecture, Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.

“The reviewing panel liked the public space at the rear of the dwellings. The addition of a third storey was a good use of the plot, and the addition of the curved dormer window added some panache to this sensible move.”

Mairi Johnson, Director of Major Projects, National Museums Liverpool

“We challenged some of the most creative and forward-thinking minds in architecture to design a more sustainable way of living in a modern, 21st century city region like ours – and the results have been incredible! As a former brickie, I know how complex a project like this can be and I take my hat off to all the entrants for the innovative designs and solutions they’ve come up with.

The winning design had sustainability at its heart – and that’s going to be vital if we’re serious about hitting our ambitious target to reach net zero by 2040 – at least a decade before national government targets.

Currently, nearly a third of all our region’s carbon emissions come from domestic properties and, despite the millions we’re investing into my robust retrofitting programme, we know there’s still a lot more work to do to make all our homes cheaper and easier to heat – without heating the planet too. Innovative solutions like this one will not only have a massive part to play in helping us to keep our domestic emissions down – but in protecting and enhancing our area’s precious architectural heritage for future generations as well.”

Mayor of the Liverpool City Region, Steve Rotheram said

https://www.liverpoolcityregion-ca.gov.uk/news/liverpool-townhouse-competition-winner-announced