Stockport Homes sets up architectural arm 

The company that manages Stockport Council’s social housing has launched Dash Architecture, to design a range of projects from housing to dementia care, with its profits redirected into community initiatives. 

The new division is intended to help Stockport Homes branch out into private commercial and residential projects, having previously designed schemes only for the borough’s council housing. Dash, on the other hand, will specialise in dementia care, housing, education, leisure and community buildings. 

Dash is made up of three designers, who have until now worked under the main Stockport Homes operation. The team’s previous projects include refurbishments of The Arthur Greenwood Centre in Woodley and Bruce Lodge Dementia Care Home in Offerton. 

The launch of Dash has been in the pipeline for a while but was delayed by the Covid-19 pandemic, Stockport Homes said. 

All of the profit the firm makes will be recycled back into Stockport Homes to help fund its charity initiatives, including a furniture club, which helps people furnish their homes more cheaply, and the Pantry scheme, which allows people to buy food at discounted prices. 

Jenny Osbourne, chair of Stockport Homes, said: “We’re excited to have a new commercial offering of Dash Architecture, which not only helps us transform our local communities, but also generates profits to [further] help the people we serve.”

Nigel Crompton, principal architect at Dash Architecture, said: “Dash Architecture adopts a people-centred approach to design, creating positive and vibrant spaces for the people of Stockport and across the North West.”