Terrace of the Future

HTA has won the Reader’s Choice Design Competition in the Sunday Times British Homes Awards 2018 in collaboration with Ilke Homes and Sovereign Housing. The Hundred House is designed to cost £100k to build, be constructed in less than 100 hours on-site, and last hundreds of years. It combines the best of British design heritage with modern technology.

The Sunday Times British Homes Awards challenged us to reinvent the terrace in a new genre, fit for our time. Inspired by the beloved homes of the Georgian and Victorian periods, yet designed for modern living, our design celebrates 21st-century construction and digital craftsmanship through precision-engineered homes that allow bespoke personalisation. Homeowners can choose from 3D-printed decorative reliefs, stone surrounds, laser-cut details, metalwork, and intricately carved CNC internal wood paneling to create a home that reflects their personality. Beautiful streets are unified by shared details, proportions, and materials. Subtle variations from terrace to terrace, such as gables, parapets, stone porches, and bay windows, enhance the echoes of Britain’s historic terraces and provide relief, interest, and rhythm to the streetscape.

HTA’s approach, although cutting-edge technologically, is designed to integrate harmoniously within existing settings, appearing both contemporary and familiar. To address concerns about modular and prefabricated construction, we designed a house that appears robust and substantial while also being detailed and charming. The house features a split-level design, with a kitchen-dining area opening to the garden and a first-floor living room with a dramatic vaulted ceiling. This layout accommodates various modern living scenarios, such as grandparents or older children returning home.

Homes are arranged around formal squares, accessible via tree-lined avenues and mews streets, borrowing from successful historic precedents to create welcoming, livable neighbourhoods. Modern amenities are integrated into the design with features like electric car charging points, innovative bike storage, and shared refuse storage points located in the middle of terraces, preventing clutter from bins filling the streets. By integrating ‘Tyneside’ flats on corner plots within the same elevation and footprint, a density of up to 100 homes per hectare can be achieved.

One of the key attractions of period homes is their generous floor-to-ceiling heights and light-filled interiors. We have incorporated and enhanced these qualities in our design. Two living spaces are included. The large kitchen/dining/family area on the ground floor connects directly to the garden, filled with daylight from full-width folding doors and a large roof light. On the first floor, a living room celebrates views of the square with a large balcony and opens up to a vaulted ceiling with roof windows. This space is over 5 meters in height, offering more than 10% daylight levels and better fresh air circulation than a typical period property. As a result, the home will cost less than £100 a year to heat. The master bedroom features a similarly generous vaulted ceiling, while the staircase acts as a light well, drawing light deep into the home to create a sense of peace and calm.