RCKa has had two projects shortlisted for the 2025 Housing Design Awards. The first, Highgate Newtown Community Centre, which was completed this year, previously won a project award in 2018 and is now shortlisted in the completed category. Our second shortlisting is for Chigwell Retirement Community, in the project category. The scheme secured planning consent last year and will be starting on site early in 2026.
Chigwell Retirement Community is our third scheme for Retirement Village Group. The development offers 144 homes with flexible apartment layouts, integrating sustainable living with community-focused spaces, aiming for a 20% biodiversity uplift through native planting and wetland meadows. Highgate Newtown Community Centre for Camden Council includes a new public space connecting neighbourhoods, framing long views, and inviting community life to unfold and thrive. A vibrant courtyard and carefully crafted edges create a place that feels open, intimate, and uniquely shared. The project was developed in close consultation with local residents and planning authorities, ensuring it responds sensitively to the area’s character.
The Housing Design Awards are particularly significant for RCKa, as this was the first major award we won back in 2011 when our Meadow Street proposal in Preston won a project award. Since then, we’ve gone on to secure four more, including the HAPPI Award in 2019 for our Hortsley project for Pegasus Homes, and the Towards Carbon Net Zero prize for Boughton Heath (now The Wydlewoods) on the outskirts of Chester.
There are a number of outstanding schemes shortlisted for this year’s awards, so we’re up against stiff competition. The winners will be announced in June.
