Three teams handed £5,000 to develop their proposals for innovative forms of housing
The organisers of this year’s Davidson Prize have announced three finalists in the competition to design innovative ways to help the government meet its housing targets.
Teams including Ash Sakula, Clifton Emery Design and FLOC are on the shortlist for the £10,000 winning prize, which will be awarded in June as part of the London Festival of Architecture.
Each team will now receive £5,000 to develop their ideas and develop their visualisations with help from visualisation studio Hayes Davidson, which was founded by Alan Davidson, the late architect and namesake of the annual award.
Teams were asked to focus on a community of 300 homes in a real location anywhere in the UK, with submissions looking at housing solutions for urban and suburban sites as well as protected rural locations.
Jonathan Falkingham, 2025 judge and founder and director of Urban Splash, said: “We were looking for the exciting communication of bold and do-able ideas around delivering new homes and communities. It was a tough call selecting from a brilliant longlist of 16 diverse and imaginative concepts but our three finalists really nailed this year’s brief.”
Lucy Watson,2025 judge and commissioning editor, house and home at the Financial Times, added: “We felt the chosen three teams proposed solutions that were well thought out and contextual in their approach, whilst also providing a framework to be replicated across the country. It was very inspiring to see the thought and care put in by the teams to understand their community and its needs through collaboration with local organisations and public outreach.”
The longlisted and finalist projects will be showcased on 10 June 2025 at Heatherwick Studio’s London headquarters, Making House in King’s Cross.
The winning team will also receive a week of Hayes Davidson’s support to help them engage key decision makers in UK housing with their concept, to take it further and help them realise their ideas.
Proposals by the three 2025 Davidson Prize finalists
Ash Sakula with Human Nature: 1 House, 2 Homes… make a neighbourhood
A new model that builds more homes on less land while enhancing the public realm, fostering active streets, and creating space for local economies and green infrastructure. On a test site at Seaham in County Durham, 1 House, 2 Homes doubles density without increasing footprint. By integrating seamlessly into existing streets it makes infill and large-scale urban regeneration faster, more viable and less carbon-intensive than car- dependent expansion. The innovative house typology ensures every home has its own front door and reduces per-home material use, operational carbon, and infrastructure strain while delivering high-quality, affordable homes at scale.
Clifton Emery Design, Nudge Community Builders, Millfields Trust, Plymouth Energy Community, Devon and Cornwall Planning Consultants: 300 Homes within a Union Street Mile
A model for the delivery of community homes in Union Street, Plymouth that can be applied to high streets across the UK. 300 Homes sensitively places a sequence of affordable rented homes with co-living features into the rich grain of an established urban high street, with multiple small interventions reinforcing the equilibrium of the whole community as well as local economies. Made off site and designed to a 600mm grid (from cabinet to room to home) the concept is replicable and energy efficient, providing imaginative communal spaces such as shared kitchens, workspaces and food growing areas alongside secure and comforting private home space.
FLOC, MAZI, Hyem, Stef Leach, Broaden, Thurston Illustration, SHED, Artis, Henna Asikainen: Positive Disturbance - Realising Brownfield Potential
Positive Disturbance is an adaptive framework for transforming brownfield sites into thriving places where homes, landscapes, communities and economies can grow together towards a reimagined future. On an ex- industrial test site at Clasper Village, Gateshead the project explores ways of redefining urban living as a dynamic, evolving ecosystem - rooted in place yet adaptable anywhere in the UK. As part of a living landscape, the lifetime neighbourhood of diverse tenures draws on positive ideas of degrowth to foster coexistence between humans, wildlife, and ecology while reimagining resources, movement, and sustainability.
Postscript
The Davidson Prize2025| Page2of4The 2025 FinalistsAsh Sakula with Human Nature1House,2Homes… make a neighbourhoodA new model that builds more homes on less land while enhancing the public realm, fostering active streets,and creating space for local economies and green infrastructure. On a test site at Seaham in County Durham,1House,2Homes doubles density without increasing footprint. By integrating seamlessly into existing streets itmakes infill and large-scale urban regeneration faster, more viable and less carbon-intensive than car-dependent expansion. Theinnovativehouse typology ensures every home has its own front door and reducesper-home materialuse, operational carbon, and infrastructure strain while delivering high-quality, affordablehomes at scale.in human-scale design, maxiClifton Emery Design, Nudge Community Builders, Millfields Trust, Plymouth Energy Community, Devon andCornwall Planning Consultants300 Homes within a Union Street MileA model for the delivery of community homes in Union Street, Plymouththat can beappliedto high streetsacross the UK. 300 Homes sensitively placesa sequence ofaffordable rented homes with co-livingfeaturesinto the rich grain of an established urban high street, withmultiplesmall interventions reinforcing theequilibrium of the whole communityas well aslocal economies. Made off site and designed to a 600mm grid(from cabinet to room to home) theconcept is replicable and energy efficient, providing imaginativecommunal spaces such as shared kitchens, workspacesand food growing areas alongside secure andcomforting private home space.FLOC, MAZi, Hyem, Stef Leach, Broaden, Thurston Illustration,SHED, Artis, Henna AsikainenPositive Disturbance–Realising Brownfield PotentialPositive Disturbance is an adaptive framework for transforming brownfield sites into thriving placeswherehomes, landscapes, communities andeconomiescangrow togethertowards areimaginedfuture.On an ex-industrial test site at Clasper Village, Gateshead the project exploresways of redefining urban living as adynamic, evolving ecosystem–rooted in place yet adaptable anywhere in the UK.As part ofaliving landscape,the lifetimeneighbourhoodof diverse tenuresdraws on positive ideas of degrowth tofoster coexistencebetween humans, wildlife, and ecology while reimagining resources, movement, and sustainability
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