Eastleigh: Monksbrook shortlisted for national development award

A new homes development in Eastleigh, Hampshire, has been shortlisted for a prestigious national award.

Monksbrook, built by Barratt Homes for First Wessex and designed by Architecture PLB, has been nominated in the Best Designed Development of the Year category of Inside Housing’s Top 60 Development Awards.

The Monksbrook Estate project is a regeneration project and is replacing a 1960s estate of 164 properties with 237 modern, energy-efficient homes.

Phase one of 83 new homes was finished in 2014 and phase two, providing a further 154 homes, is nearing completion with the final homes set to be complete this autumn.

The judges of this award were looking for excellence in both external and internal design, and in how each scheme’s design helps it meet the needs of its residents.

“This is an excellent example of partners working together to transform an area and make it an attractive and hugely popular place in which to live,” said Barratt managing director Tim Hill.

“The successful collaboration here at Monksbrook is testament to the incredible efforts of all those involved – in planning, design and construction.

“The transformation of this area is evident and fantastic for all to see, and our team is proud to have played a key role in creating this brand new community.”

First Wessex interim assets and development director John Barker added: “We are delighted that the regeneration of Monksbrook has been shortlisted for this prestigious award. From the outset, we extensively consulted with our residents to ensure that we didn’t just provide a new development, but a new community in which the residents would be proud to live.

“The main aim of the development’s design was to achieve a higher density of properties to help address the national housing shortage, while also providing quality local homes.”

Winners of the Inside Housing Top 60 Awards will be announced at a ceremony in London on October 14.