JTP’s Eric Holding participates in RIBAJ Roundtable
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JTP’s Eric Holding participates in RIBAJ Roundtable

Published on 30 November 2017

JTP’s Director of Strategic Projects, Eric Holding, was invited to participate in a recent RIBAJ Roundtable on the performance gap in housing, and the challenges and opportunities this presents.

A group of prominent industry figures, made up of architects, housebuilders and housing associations, met to discuss alternatives to traditional construction methods to offer greater flexibility in design, a particularly important consideration in our current housing crisis.

The full write up of the roundtable event can be found on RIBAJ here.

Several participants highlighted the rise in demand for custom-build homes, which see developers providing a range of different housetypes within an overall masterplan, with buyers able to choose from homes that are fully customised, right down to shell-and-core structures they can then fit out themselves.

Eric stressed the importance of not focusing solely on the design of the individual homes to the detriment of the neighbourhood as a whole: 

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We need to ensure we create integrated communities, instead of just self-sufficient homes that do not have a strong relationship with their surroundings.
Eric Holding, JTP

Eric also pointed out that good placemaking should create many diverse and nuanced lifestyle choices, and focusing too heavily on custom elements runs the risk of curtailing those lifestyles, instead of giving people the choice and freedom they desire.

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Custom build can only truly be successful as a single facet of an overall placemaking strategy.
Eric Holding, JTP

Design Codes, Developer Briefing Packs, bespoke housetypes, phased placemaking approaches, Charrettes and Community Planning events are all part of JTP’s robust implementation strategy for delivering exemplar and sustainable neighbourhoods, ensuring quality is not comprised as part of the drive for quantity.

These innovative methodologies are sufficiently definitive to ensure a strong sense of place and character in our neighbourhoods, but flexible enough to encourage creativity.