RIBA South West and Wessex 2024 winner

Front elevation of housing at Patch Elm

We are delighted to announce that Mitchell Eley Gould’s housing development, Patch Elm, in South Gloucestershire has won a prestigious RIBA South West and Wessex Award 2024. The regional awards form the shortlist of projects that ultimately go on to compete for the Stirling Prize.

Mitchell Eley Gould have been working closely with Veya Homes to develop a low carbon modular timber system that can be built at a commercial cost. Patch Elm housing development is the pilot project in this development. It is the culmination of iterative testing on prototypes over the last 5 years. The system has been developed to enable efficient modular construction, high levels of natural insulation and locally sourced materials while allowing for flexibility in housing design.

The RIBA Judges wrote of the project;

“The project is actually a way of thinking, a body of research and the development of a system, of which the houses at Patch Elm Lane are the first fruits […]

There is an obvious respect and collaborative relationship between architects and developer. The construction methods are not new, but the ambition and determination to fine-tune the system, open up supply chains and find local product sources is inspirational. The design goes beyond energy calculations to really understand the impact of materials sourcing on the carbon profile and sustainability of the scheme. The result is an excellent measured energy use of 28 kWh per square metre per annum and cradle to grave embodied carbon emissions of 143kg of CO2 equivalent per square metre.

This is a highly successful pilot project. It will be interesting to see how it might be replicated as a model on a larger scale and with smaller homes affordable to a wider demographic. The ultimate ambition would be the mainstreaming of such solutions into the wider construction industry.”