Earlier this year, Croydon Council set up their own development company to help deliver hundreds of new homes. Brick by Brick Croydon Limited will take charge of 50 plots of land across the borough, leading the development with the aim to create up to 1,200 new affordable homes on the sites. It is hoped that this hands-on approach will deliver an effective response to the level of demand for housing in the borough. The population is rising, and it is clear that traditional building approaches will not be enough.

Croydon Council will provide the finance for the development of the sites, so it will have complete control over the selection of architects and tradesmen as well as the progress of the projects, helping to reduce the possibility of disruptions and delays. Brick by Brick have personally chosen the architects who will take on the work needed for these sites, and our team at Coffey Architects will be involved alongside Pitman Tozer, Mikhail Riches, Stitch, Mae, vPPR and HTA. The initial idea is to give eight or nine sites to each company to develop.

Involving so many different architects is sure to provide some fantastic benefits for the London Borough of Croydon, because each company will have the opportunity to put their own unique stamp on the sites they are given and ensure that the new developments are well suited to meet the needs of the residents who will be living there. We are proud to have been selected to participate in this fantastic project, and we look forward to using our creative approach to make the best use of the sites that are assigned to us. We hope that other boroughs in London will replicate Croydon’s strategy in the future so that the current demand for housing can be met.