Brabazon

Location: Bristol

Brick Manufacturer: Michelmersh Brick Holdings PLC

Brick Names: Freshfield Lane Selected Darks & Lights

Architects: Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios / Grant Associates

Brickwork Contractor: YTL Developments

Judges Comment

"A highly successful development that shows how the consistent use of a well chosen clay brick can help to define the character of a new residential area. The success is in the simplicity and the consistency of the use of a clay brick over many different buildings, with different scales, geometries and configurations in order to tie the development together. There is an economy of means that should be celebrated."

Stirling Prize-winning architects Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios were commissioned by YTL Developments to deliver the first phase in the transformation of the historic Filton Airfield and to deliver the first phase of new homes at Brabazon.

The first phase of new homes built at Brabazon forms a highly sustainable residential quarter - The Hangar District - that sets the tone for the transformation of this 380-acre site.

The new neighbourhood offers 303 new homes, including a range of family homes, private apartments, and affordable homes all set within private gardens and community spaces, and arranged on a clear network of legible streets.

A public square and sweeping crescent mark the entrances into the neighbourhood, with density increasing towards these entrances. Urban-scale terraces face the main routes and two-storey pitched-roof family houses line the quieter streets between.

The driving aspiration behind the design for the later living properties at Brabazon was to bring the whole community together, creating homes that are both practical and a pleasure to live in. These homes - 239 one and two bedroom apartments - are designed to enable residents to be more active, more social and more independent in their retirement years.

The mansion blocks are arranged around a central, communal garden that sits within and connects to the wider context of new parks and green spaces of Brabazon.

Brabazon is a new neighbourhood for Bristol, putting the historic 142 ha Filton Airfield site back into use.

Catering to critical demands for more housing, more urban living and more employment, the low carbon masterplan outlines a high density, sustainable, new city district, with the YTL Arena Bristol at its heart.

The revised masterplan increases the density and variety of uses, to make the most of the potential and location of the site. It accommodates the peaks and troughs of people flows and transport demands related to the Arena, as well as the expectations and safety of visitors and residents.

Planned on a framework of 15-minute neighbourhoods, the masterplan’s sense of place and identity is very much shaped by its public spaces.

Two kilometres of pedestrian and cycle routes link a series of linear parks and gardens, as well as a destination park that follows the line of the runway, a sports hub and central, landmark lake. The phased growth of Brabazon is linked to key sustainable travel milestones to lower car usage.

The masterplan will see Brabazon grow to over 6,000 new homes of every type and tenure and for every generation, from rental apartments to flats for first-time-buyers, open-market houses and properties for retirement living. There will be up to 2,000 beds for student accommodation, while high-quality affordable homes will make up 26.5% of properties, equating to over 1,700 houses and apartments of which Phases 1 and 2 are already underway.