Homes around the Trees

Project Name: Homes around the Trees
Authors: architectureRED

CITATION

One of the most common commissions for an architecture practice is urban housing. Often designed to cater to aspirational imagery and profitability, the archetype mostly solicits a templatised response, with the role of the architect limited to the skin. In contrast, this project approaches the site as a place with a natural heritage. Designed around four large trees on the site, the project carves out a solid urban form, making the large trees central to the scheme and experience of the housing.

By avoiding a basement, the architects ensure the preservation of the roots of the large trees, as the ground plane is designed as a community space; a significant move for a commercial housing project. where cars typically occupy large portions of the ground, isolating the inhabitants to their respective floors.

The form of the canopies responds to the form of the tree, opening out the units to the foliage at multiple levels. These large balconies privilege engagement over privacy, a sense of openness and connection over isolation. The scheme makes an important statement and forces developers to consider all contexts on urban sites as relevant, and extends the idea of heritage to include the natural history of the site. The interface between the public realm of the housing and the street is carefully negotiated by a low wall, enabling greater dialogue and integration.

Urban housing, especially designed at a large scale, needs a desperate re-thinking; a breaking of the mould towards better urban integration and contextualisation. This project is designed to respond to the specific and unique offerings of the site, where the alternative is not an either-or choice but a well-negotiated architectural plan. Crucially, the project represents an approach that housing in the city can respond to both the natural and the urban, enabling ambition and coexistence without compromise and therefore, Homes around the Trees by architectureRED is awarded a Citation in The Merit List.