Croydon schemes have won two New London Architecture Awards with Boxpark Croydon and Brick by Brick both winning prestigious prizes.
Boxpark, the shipping container pop-up mall next to East Croydon station, which opened towards the end of 2016, has won the ‘meanwhile’ category.
The scheme features an events space surrounded by food and drink outlets, many of them small independent businesses, with activities having ranged from a pop-up Stormzy homecoming show to big screen events to community fitness activities.
It came out on top of the six shortlisted projects celebrated schemes that ‘embrace the city as a work in progress, enlivening spaces, places and high streets over a short-term period, while supporting long-term ambitions’.
Meanwhile, the Croydon Smaller Sites programme has been honoured in the housing section which recognises multi-unit residential developments of any tenure – from social housing to PRS to prime resi, creating exemplary new places for people to live.
HTA, Mae, Pitman Tozer, Stitch, Mikhail Riches, Coffey and vPPR are among the companies which have supported Brick by Brick and LB Croydon in the development of the programme.
Brick by Brick is a development company created by Croydon Council with the aim of achieving the Croydon’s goal of 1,000 high quality new homes across the borough by 2019.
The aim of Brick by Brick is to ensure people in Croydon have access to high quality housing, with 50 per cent of the new homes being ‘affordable’.
With proceeds going back to the borough, also means that the full value of development growth is kept in the borough – whether it be in the form of additional affordable housing, physical improvements in the local centres or dividend return to the council to fund council services.