Architects win industry award for work on Matlock housing development

David Morley Architects was presented with the design excellence award for its efforts on the Matlock Spa scheme at the East Midlands Property Dinner in Nottingham last month, an event celebrating the region's top commercial and residential property deals, developments, builders, developers.

A spokesman for the business said: “We hope the recognition this award brings will help persuade the volume house-builders that there is a better alternative to the soulless house designs which are so commonly seen across the UK.

“We need awards like this to encourage developers to invest in more sensitive designs which tackle the difficult sites because invariably that is where we can make the most positive impact on our environment.”

The concept for Matlock Spa was inspired by the spa town tradition, putting residents’ health and wellbeing at the centre of the design.

The architects designed the site and its buildings to encourage active lifestyles with a layout suited to walking and cycling, within easy reach of the train station and town centre.

Houses and apartments have been planned to let in plenty of natural daylight and have been orientated to offer sunny outdoor spaces, and the extensive built-in insulation and air source heat pumps making this a pioneering all-electric scheme.

The development was also planned in partnership with Derbyshire Wildlife Trust to create an ecologically sustainable landscape setting, including new wetlands on the adjacent floodplain.

Charles Rifkind, whose company Rifkind Associates owns the former Cawdor quarry site and commissioned David Morley Architects, said: “At Matlock we saw an opportunity to demonstrate a bold alternative to the identikit housing estates seen all over the UK, where directors and shareholders so often drive down quality and longevity in favour of excessive short-term profits.

“It is hoped, as the decades move on, Matlock Spa will be seen as part of the environment and considered as a very special place to live, it would be good if the house builders of Britain take note.”

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