Last night developer Hill Group scooped a prestigious 2021 Housing Design Award for its unique scheme, Knights Park in Cambridge.  The awards, which took place at Storey's Field in Eddington, are the longest running award programme in the country [1948] and the only one that sends a multidisciplinary set of judges to the shortlisted developments.

Last night developer Hill Group scooped a prestigious 2021 Housing Design Award for its unique scheme, Knights Park in Cambridge.  The awards, which took place at Storey's Field in Eddington, are the longest running award programme in the country [1948] and the only one that sends a multidisciplinary set of judges to the shortlisted developments.

Knights Park is the first ever completed Housing Design Award entry to be recognised by Building with Nature for providing an outstanding habitat to support biodiversity alongside a comprehensive strategy for channelling cloud bursts to rain gardens under which there are storage tanks so the water can be used for the planting, when needed. 

''This summer we’ve seen many examples of climate change bringing tropical downpours. This is the first scheme in Britain with a strategy to make sure those cloudbursts don’t soak through under your front door. It’s an exemplar of designing for climate change with a 360 degree vision, such as its clever ventilation strategies so homes won’t overheat, now a real issue for nearly all new-builds. If I were buying a new home and worrying about climate change and how that would affect my comfort in my home, I’d be confident Knights Park wouldn’t leave me sweltering at night''.

Housing Design Awards director David Birkbeck