Farmstead Road, our Passivhaus scheme for Phoenix Community Housing in Lewisham, has been named a winner at the Housing Design Awards 2026.
The Housing Design Awards are supported by the leading professional bodies, including RICS and RIBA, and recognise high-quality homes that make a positive contribution to their neighbourhoods.
Designed by Metropolitan Workshop, Farmstead Road replaces an existing semi-detached property and outbuildings on a 0.29ha site within the historic Bellingham Estate. The scheme delivers 24 affordable homes, a mix of two and three-bedroom properties, across three new three-storey buildings: two symmetrical gatehouses addressing the street and a butterfly-shaped block to the rear. This inward-facing layout reduces overlooking, maximises daylight and gives every home a dual or triple aspect. Scalloped brick detailing, steep roofs and carefully grouped windows take their cues from the Arts & Crafts character of the interwar estate.
All homes are built to the Passivhaus standard using a fabric-first approach with airtight construction, high levels of insulation and mechanical ventilation with heat recovery. Air source heat pumps serve the two gatehouses, while rooftop photovoltaic panels help reduce residents energy costs.
We were appointed as Quantity Surveyor, Employer’s Agent, CDM – Principal Designer and Clerk of Work. Our role covered contract administration, cost planning and control, pre-construction health and safety coordination, and regular quality inspections on site. As Clerk of Works, we maintained a close eye on workmanship and Passivhaus detailing throughout construction, while the wider project team successfully managed the challenges of a site adjacent to a Network Rail main line and the implementation of a reptile mitigation strategy for protected species.
This latest award builds on the scheme’s success at design stage in 2023, when Farmstead Road and Arcus Road both won at the Housing Design Awards. Together with Melfield Gardens, which also won this year, these projects form part of Phoenix Community Housing’s Passivhaus-led programme of new homes in Lewisham.
Congratulations to Phoenix Community Housing, Metropolitan Workshop, Buxton Building Contractors and everyone involved in bringing Farmstead Road to completion.
Images courtesy of LOURDAS Photography.
