The Phoenix, Lewes has been recognised by the Oslo Architecture Triennale and selected for its Neighbourhood Index of sustainable, diverse and thriving places.
The project, bring brought forward by Human Nature, will turn a neglected brownfield site into a beautiful, green place, providing the town with much-needed homes and jobs, new community buildings and public squares, a river walk, flood defences and health centre.
Designed to prioritise people over cars, powered entirely by renewable energy and built with upcycled and low-carbon materials, with shared space, services and resources and a bold social value programme, it represents a radical departure from how neighbourhoods are planned in the UK.
It will be designed around the principle of the five-minute neighbourhood, in which most daily needs can be met within a short walk.
The Open Call jury said: “The Phoenix promises the development of a new neighbourhood as an alternative to the planning norm in the UK, not only by moving away from the reliance on private cars. The project seeks to demonstrate that sustainable materials can be used at scale, that developments can increase biodiversity and that there is a real appetite for places that enable easy, communal and low-impact lives.
“The plan, developed through a cohesive process, features car-sharing, on-site recycling, composting, urban farming and other waste management facilities. If all these promising ambitions are turned into reality by Human Nature, it will indeed be an achievement for more ambitious neighbourhood thinking – and doing – in the UK and beyond.”
The Phoenix was one of seven projects given an honourable mention from 400 submissions.
The Phoenix, Lewes has been recognised by the Oslo Architecture Triennale and selected for its Neighbourhood Index of sustainable, diverse and thriving places.
The project, bring brought forward by Human Nature, will turn a neglected brownfield site into a beautiful, green place, providing the town with much-needed homes and jobs, new community buildings and public squares, a river walk, flood defences and health centre.
Designed to prioritise people over cars, powered entirely by renewable energy and built with upcycled and low-carbon materials, with shared space, services and resources and a bold social value programme, it represents a radical departure from how neighbourhoods are planned in the UK.
It will be designed around the principle of the five-minute neighbourhood, in which most daily needs can be met within a short walk.
The Open Call jury said: “The Phoenix promises the development of a new neighbourhood as an alternative to the planning norm in the UK, not only by moving away from the reliance on private cars. The project seeks to demonstrate that sustainable materials can be used at scale, that developments can increase biodiversity and that there is a real appetite for places that enable easy, communal and low-impact lives.
“The plan, developed through a cohesive process, features car-sharing, on-site recycling, composting, urban farming and other waste management facilities. If all these promising ambitions are turned into reality by Human Nature, it will indeed be an achievement for more ambitious neighbourhood thinking – and doing – in the UK and beyond.”
The Phoenix was one of seven projects given an honourable mention from 400 submissions.