Lion Green Road, a residential development in Coulsdon, Croydon, has been awarded the RIBA Stirling Prize, marking a significant moment for council-led housing in Britain. The project, designed by Mary Duggan Architects in collaboration with Ruff Architects, serves as a potential model for the “council housebuilding comeback” suggested by officials like Andy Burnham. Featuring a cluster of crystalline, pink and brown brick towers, the site integrates residential flats with allotments, playgrounds, and existing woodland, standing out as a rare example of public-sector success in a field often dominated by private developments. Even if it’s prize-winning, yet few people in Britain welcome the prospect of new housing in their backyards. According to “We really pushed against the suburban model of terraces dominated by cars, with little front and back gardens,”, Duggan. Walking around the development’s zig-zagging slopes and stepped pathways gives the feeling of exploring a bucolic hill town.
This achievement is notable as it is only the second time a council housing project has received this honor, the first being Goldsmith Street in Norwich in 2019. The project acts as a bittersweet reminder of Croydon Council’s now-defunct development company, Brick by Brick. Established in 2015 to address the failure of conventional models to provide sufficient affordable homes, the company built 751 units—over half of which were affordable—before the council’s 2020 bankruptcy led to its dissolution and the cancellation of various projects. When Goldsmith Street in Norwich scooped the gong in 2019, for its rows of low-energy brick terraces, designed by Mikhail Riches Architects and Cathy Hawley, only once before has the RIBA Stirling prize ever been awarded to a council housing project. It is also a bittersweet vindication of Croydon council’s erstwhile housebuilding company, Brick by Brick, a bold and sadly brief experiment by the previous Labour administration, which was halted in 2020 when the council went bankrupt, seeing numerous projects cancelled. According to “Brick by Brick was an amazing client,”, Duggan, who also had a small mews project in Crystal Palace on the drawing board for the council’s housebuilder, before the plug was pulled. “It was a refreshing change from h. As a wholly council-owned company, because the conventional development model was failing to deliver enough affordable homes, it was established in 2015. It is the fate of Brick by Brick, if there is a cloud hanging over Croydon’s triumph.
Despite significant local opposition during the 2017 planning phase—which saw 257 objections largely centered on parking concerns versus 18 letters of support—the development has proven that high-density living can be achieved without compromising environmental quality. RIBA president Chris Williamson noted that the development demonstrates how density can be balanced with high-quality living spaces, offering an alternative to standard, repetitive housing. The project provides 157 homes, surpassing the original brief of 80, by utilizing a “pinwheel” structural design that preserves mature trees and historic views. With subtle variation in height and orientation, it offers housing at scale without uniformity.”, through a consistent specification. Now built, almost a decade later, the project demonstrates how more homes than you might imagine can be constructed on the most unpromising of sites in a sympathetic way, without sacrificing greenery, views and public access – and keeping plenty of parking, too. Arranged as she describes, but Duggan proved she could fit 157 flats, distributed between five pavilion-like towers, retaining the mature trees and bluebell woodland on the site, the original brief asked for 80 homes. With a public route that winds its way through the site, up to a historic railway embankment at the rear, and not a perimeter fence in sight, the result feels like it has grown out of its woodland setting. With a bulge at the base of the balustrades to accommodate plant pots, while cuts in the form (to preserve historic views) create some with larger roof terraces, the flats all enjoy an inset loggia balcony. Adding additional costs, while the financial forecasts were overly optimistic, with Brexit and Covid introducing huge delays, but the sites often proved to be trickier than expected.
The design team prioritized efficiency and accessibility. Each of the five towers shares a star-shaped floor plan, rotated to maximize privacy, natural light, and cross-ventilation. Residents across all tenures benefit from inclusive entry points, avoiding the “poor door” practice common in private developments where social tenants are often relegated to secondary entrances. The interior spaces include private loggia balconies with structural features designed for plants. Half of the units are designated as affordable housing, rented at local housing allowance rates, while the remaining half are private rentals. Where private owners get the hotel concierge treatment, while affordable tenants enter around the back by the bins, it’s a far cry from the “poor door” apartheid of so much developer-built housing. With seating and planting, while all have generous lobbies, no matter the tenure, the entrance of each block is framed by a paved terrace.
The development was constructed on a tight budget of £2,500 per square metre, making it the most cost-effective project on the year’s shortlist. This budget supported a high level of finish, including textured, multi-colored brickwork and communal areas designed with landscape architects Planit-IE. The site includes sensory gardens and creative elements like insect hotels, fostering a atmosphere described by judges as a “new kind of garden neighbourhood.”
As the government prepares to invest £39 billion into the housing sector, including a £10 billion allocation announced by Burnham in August intended to jumpstart 70,000 affordable homes, the Lion Green Road project serves as a key case study. Its success highlights the potential for local authorities to act as developers, delivering high-quality public assets rather than treating land solely as a commodity. The project stands in contrast to other contenders for this year’s Stirling Prize, which included expensive private houses, arts centers, and large-scale office blocks. Here, they weren’t talking about the land as a commodity, but as a genuinely public asset.”.
