The design competition is looking for creative ideas for how our homes can address and improve issues surrounding health, sustainability and diversity for residents and wider communities.

Brick By Brick is a council-owned developer in Croydon, building affordable homes for local people. The Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust was founded to tackle inequality in all forms.

The judging panel for the competition includes:
Colm Lacey of Brick By Brick
Chloë Phelps of Common Ground Architecture
Anisha Jogani, placemaking team leader at Croydon Council
Architecture Foundation young trustee Betty Owoo
RIBA council member Yemi Aladerun
Stephen Lawrence Trust alumni Pragga Saha
and a Croydon community group representative.

How did the collaboration come about?

During the coronavirus pandemic, homes have become the most important part of our daily lives and with that, many issues across UK society came into sharp focus, from the climate emergency to widespread inequality. With this in mind, the two organisations came together in their belief that that the built environment should be designed by the people who live in it, celebrating and giving voice to people from every background. The competition was launched to design a better future for everyone..

What were the most important factors that contributed to the success of this project?

Response to need
Response to COVID-19
The ‘big’ idea
Combination of skill sets
Combination of participants
Social impact

Project funding

Brick by Brick

Will the project continue beyond COVID-19 lockdown?

Yes, the winning entry will be commissioned to design one of the schemes in Brick by Brick’s next small sites programme.

mage credits: Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust, Architects’ Journal