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Designer Sergison Bates Developer New Islington and Hackney Housing Association Contractor Rooff Planning Authority Thurrock District Council

There have been a number of attempts to use self-build schemes for skill training, but many have run into difficulties due to an overly purist approach to the construction process. This assisted self-build scheme under the government’s New Deal programme combines training at a local technical college, supervised work on site under a contractor, and off-site fabrication. The ten two and three-person low cost rented flats will be occupied by the self-builders on completion.

A simple prefabricated timber frame, clad in a cement panel and timber boarding rainscreen, maximises the internal spaces of the flats, which are deliberately designed to give as much flexibility as possible to the lifestyles of the young tenants. So, too, are the generous verandah access and semi-private courtyard. If successful, this scheme could well form a prototype solution for other, similar sites in the area: an innovative mix of social and physical regeneration.