LILAC

Lilac   Affordable strawbale housing community in Bramley. Leeds

On a dark, wet evening last week myself and other members of the Leeds Society of Architects took a tour around LILAC to find out what all the fuss is about with this award winning project in Bramley. We were kindly shown around by resident Joe Atkinson who talked passionately and insightfully about the scheme from its embryonic stages as a drunken conversation to the finished schemed we see today.

The interesting part of the project for myself and other the architects there that evening was the reasoning behind certain decisions being made, as this is not your standard project that as professionals we come across on a daily basis.

LILAC was always going to be a low impact construction project, but why use prefabricated straw bale walls as opposed to other sustainable construction methods? Why use an architect’s practice from Bristol, not a local firm?

The answer to these 2 questions comes back to the age old reason, money. The supplier of the straw bale walls could access £400,000’s worth of grants for the project. This company was linked with the architects and when you are offered such a financial carrot it is hard to argue against it.

But how does the architecture have a direct impact on people living there?

If you follow the adage from Le Corbusier that a house is a machine for living, then this project has to be deemed a success. The energy bills are very low, there is little wasted space and the site layout has been planned around people and their interactions. However if I was a parent living there I wouldn’t like the designated children’s play area being pushed into a corner of the site away from most of the houses.

If you believe that form should follow function you cannot argue too much against the design of the buildings and the external space surrounding them. However, for me, it lacks a bit of beauty. The blocks of houses and flats have little in visual excitement due to the prefab nature of the construction, with the most interesting building being the common house that is not built from the modular straw bales walls. The project has won many awards but these are predominantly related to sustainable construction, and not design. If a different construction method had been used, maybe there would have been more opportunity to have improved aesthetics?

There is no denying LILAC is a success and something the residents should be proud of. Can this project be replicated or possibly improved on elsewhere? That is the big question for me

The process for any multi-dwelling project is complex and time consuming. You will need an enthusiastic and passionate team to drive it forward to overcome the many inevitable hurdles you will encounter. However, I fear financial issues will always dictate what can be achieved. Sadly without significant financial grants I think it would be difficult to reproduce LILAC.

I don’t think the concept for low impact affordable cohousing will be popping up in many areas just yet. Which is a shame as we are force fed overpriced, poorly designed housing estates from mass house builders.

 

You can find out more about LILAC on their website: http://www.lilac.coop/

 

James Butterworth is Managing Director at Leeds based Studio J Architects: www.studio-j.co.uk

One comment

  1. I live right opposite this building (in fact, that could be my house in the picture?) and you’re right, it’s not a pretty place.

    But the quality of life seems excellent. We have an allotment there and the residents are just about the friendliest people you could ever meet. They hold skill share events and film screenings and coffee mornings and I can’t tell you how much nicer it is to live opposite than your average faceless block of flats.

    Disappointing to hear it’s not particularly reproducible.

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