Sorry this is a bit scrappy - as you could expect everything was jumping back and forward so I tried to draw the main points of the evening out. Can Bristol build the best homes in the UK? The focus of the evening was around this question. It was agreed that this should be what every city strives for, but what factors does Bristol have to make this a reality and excel it up to the standard of a number of European cities? The question was quickly rephrased by Alison to; Is Bristol BRAVE enough to have the best homes in the UK? The panel included: George Ferguson - Mayor Alison Brooks - Architect Mike Roberts – MD, Hab Housing Robert Knight – OD, Igloo Regeneration Jackson Moulding – Vice-Chair NaSBA Themes Standards VS economics Key points: - The standard of Bristol housing should be higher, and the creation of a ‘Bristol standard’ should be made. Consequently this could then affect all housing around the UK. - Ignore property agents. - High standards will have a commercial advantage – the better the housing the more investment the private sector will invest. - Architecture teams should deliver design documents and should be part of projects further in to ensure quality isn’t lost. - How do current standards effect beauty and proportion? Do we need to stick to the standards? How can we achieve the ‘Bristol Standard’? Local talent Use Bristol’s local talent and smaller businesses to collaborate with developers to create new housing. This would.. - Channel and use all the talent that Bristol has to offer as well as allow this talent to grow and become more ambitious. - Get specific expertise in areas where needed – what does an investor REALLY know about good design? Self build and custom build The huge part of the evening was about the importance of self-build and custom build. There was a statistic that 56% of people would like this self build and the majority of people who have live in their houses for longer. - Rethink the way we design balancing finance / quality - Small level collaboration - Developers have flexible housing – what is the right level for the consumer to get involved? A few more things to mention.. Trust – it is important that trust is made between the communities and developers etc. Architecture and construction – the professions should be mixed. If you’re and architect, try and do some building experience and visa versa. Should be a conversation rather then a monolog. Land value – what defines the value of land? Potential investment to be made? Should land value and construction be separated in order to build for affordable houses? Note: community land trust model. Lawrence western A large amount of people there were from Lawrence western which happens to be partly in Shirehampton. There was talk from George that this could potentially be turned into a co-op at some point (could include a collaborative scheme in projects?). There were also concerns of lack of community as well as community funding. Thank you!
Posted on: Thu, 27 Mar 2014 13:45:34 +0000