Croydon Smaller Sites Masterplan
Common Ground Architecture led the Croydon Smaller Sites Programme in 2016, a pioneering masterplan for Brick By Brick. This was an innovative approach to tackling the housing crisis, working with Croydon’s development company to identify council-owned infill sites across the borough that would be suitable for housing. The difficult sites consisted of small scale plots on existing housing estates, old community centres that were no longer fit for purpose (that would be reprovided), surface level car parks that were surplus to requirement and garage sites that were no longer suitable for modern cars.
Common Ground Architecture, acting as professional design client, assembled a design team including HTA Design, Stitch, Coffey, Pitman Tozer, Mae, Mikhail Riches and vPPR, creating a framework that gave each practice a portfolio of sites. Common Ground Architecture also took on a portfolio of sites to design themselves.
Collectively the programme won a number of awards including the Architect’s Journal Masterplan of the Year 2018. The programme’s aim was to accelerate housing delivery in the borough, creating great homes that people could be proud of, generating a revenue back to the council as well as realising 50% affordable housing. The design-led approach, delivered by a panel of practical architects, ensured that optimal density was achieved on these sites, as well as enhancing the character of the surrounding areas and protecting the residential amenity for existing and future residents.
