One Brighton

A special award was made to promote this project, which has yet to be fully implemented but demonstrates outstanding vision and potential.

One Brighton is a mixed-use development in part of the New England Quarter in Brighton. A joint venture between BioRegional Quintain and Crest Nicholson, the project is designed using One Planet Living principles, with the aim of enabling residents to lead sustainable lifestyles with a reduced carbon footprint.

Judges' comment:

"The judges were unanimous that such ambition necessitated a special award. The judges would also like to encourage BioRegional Quintain and Crest Nicholson to put forward One Brighton for a future award once the development has been fully occupied and there is both environmental and social post-occupation feedback. It just could be that such an exemplar development might achieve on a number of awards categories. Only time will tell."

www.onebrighton.co.uk

“We need to consider designing communities that enable people to choose to live sustainably”

The development is a mix of residential accommodation (172 eco-homes and 54 affordable homes), community and office spaces. Construction began in September 2007, with the first residents expected in December 2008. Peter Halsall, Managing Director says: "We seek to create great places, good quality and well-built homes, shops and offices, real communities and community spirit, as well as to make it easy and affordable to live a ‘green' lifestyle. We believe that by creating sustainable communities across the UK we will enhance social, environmental and economic capital."

The residents of this development are given many opportunities to reduce their carbon footprint, while the project itself has a zero carbon strategy. To ensure the project's strategy is sustained, thermally-efficient building fabric and energy efficient lights and appliances are used. Heating and hot water will be provided via an on-site 500kw communal biomass boiler, and some energy will be supplied by PV panels and eight roof-mounted wind turbines.

For the people living there, there is an emphasis on green transport with the only parking spaces provided for disabled users and vehicles from an on-site car club. Safe and secure cycle storage is offered instead. Recycling is also important and facilities are made to be easily accessible. An in-vessel composter, with the aim of diverting 98 per cent of waste from landfill by 2020, is on site. New residents will be given a green lifestyles pack, promoting ways of reducing their environmental impact.

Innovative food-growing spaces have also been included in the design - rooftop allotments are available and vegetable and herb planters have been integrated into balconies. The allotments are another measure to foster community spirit, something which will be aided by a community governance organisation and a community extranet.

All features of this development are integral to our future, as Peter says: "In striving to achieve a sustainable future, we need to consider designing communities that enable people to choose to live sustainably. In such communities, the commuting distance between home and work, where the food comes from and how waste is dealt with will be as important as, if not more important than, the energy performance of the buildings."

Project highlights

• By offering sustainable options to residents a sustainable way of living can be established immediately upon occupancy, removing the difficulty of changing habits.
• Through innovation in design and financing models, truly sustainable developments can be delivered at a mainstream scale and budget.