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mæ’s submission for the ‘Make Me a Home’ RIBA competition was commended and featured in an exhibition of the top 20 entries, hosted by the Northshore Development Partnership and Tees Valley Regeneration in Stockton-on-Tees.

Our design comprised of a ‘Home Zone’, an attractive, vibrant, beautifully designed neighbourhood, and the flexible ‘Dunroamin’ house.

The site plan is designed to create a pleasant streetscape with shared surfaces for pedestrians, cycling, playing and maybe occasionally cars. A sense of community is created with communal play areas, a river walk, and a pontoon for viewing the River Tees, as well as allotments within the depth of neighbourhood blocks for use by residents.

A simple design code has been agreed. On the public side of the blocks the scale and individuality of the home is suppressed in relation to that of the street maintaining a sense of civic order and collective urban identity. Materials such as brick and cladding panels are used for the fronts of the buildings. A softer palette of materials such as timber or cedar shingles is used at the back of buildings.

‘Dunroamin’ (the last house you’ll ever need) can be a small house, a medium house or a large house. It can deliver high density, medium density or low density. No ’roamin is necessary as the basic unit can be extended to suit your changing needs.

A basic two-up, two-down house (single wide unit) can sit in a compact terrace with two bedroom or three bedroom houses either side.  Alternatively a slightly wider plot can accommodate a double wide unit, perhaps for an on-plot parking space sheltered by a first floor terrace. It could be a garage with bedroom above or additional living space plus bedroom. The house is also designed to extend upwards to a third storey.

Each house is ‘house-like’ in form and image. Units can sit adjacent to each other creating a staggered roof profile or mirrored to create a more traditional dual pitch profile along the street. Openings are carefully managed, large picture windows on the ground floor allow surveillance of the street, a  mesh screen can be pulled across for privacy. Smaller windows to the rear prevent overlooking and offer deep reveals suitable for a seat or a desk.

Related News

Project facts
Location: North Shore, Stockton-on-Tees
Date: January 2008
Value: £30 million
Client: North Shore Development Partnership, Tees Valley Regeneration and Urban Splash

Related publicity

Make me a Home: Northshore International Architecture Competition
article in Building Design, 23 January 2009