Architects sought for Preston Guild housing competition

Community Gateway Association is marking Preston Guild 2012 with a RIBA competition to design a social housing scheme in the city centre.

Preston Guild is a famous and unique celebration with more than 800 years of tradition. The Guild dates back to the granting of Preston's first Charter by King Henry in 1179. Linking the city's glorious heritage and past with its ambitions for the future, the Guild is Preston's most important and historic event and is held every 20 years. The next Guild is in 2012 with the theme of "Innovation and Creativity".

Community Gateway Association, as the largest housing association in Preston, and working in partnership with Preston City Council, is sponsoring this architectural competition with the aim, subject to funding availability, of having a winning scheme built and occupied by the time of the main Guild events in mid-2012.

Architects are invited to develop innovative design proposals for a social housing development in the centre of Preston, where people will aspire to live. The winning scheme, with an emphasis on design quality and energy efficiency, will be a project demonstrating that affordable does not equate to ordinary, and should act as an exemplar for future social housing developments in Preston and elsewhere.

The selection will take the form of a two stage process, which at stage one will involve teams submitted design ideas on a single A1 design board. Up to four teams will be short-listed and invited to attend an interview to expand on their first stage submission. Each of these teams will receive an honorarium of £3,000.