Sutton Estate retrofit wins Healthy City award as Kidbrooke scheme is highly commended

The Sutton Estate renovation in Chelsea, commissioned by Clarion Housing Group, has won the Healthy Homes and Neighbourhoods category at the Healthy City Awards, with Royal Greenwich's Kidbrooke Park Road North highly commended in the same category.

Architect HTA Design, which worked on both schemes, said the results were announced at a ceremony at Old Trafford Stadium. The organiser said winners were announced on 20 October at an evening dinner and ceremony at the Manchester United ground.

The awards are organised by SALUS Global Knowledge Exchange and the Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design at the Royal College of Art, and comprise eight categories. The organiser said the Healthy Homes and Neighbourhoods category recognises projects that show how housing and neighbourhood design can support health, equity and everyday wellbeing.

The organiser's results list credits the Sutton Estate Regeneration as designed by Civic and HTA Design. A third entry, the BaptistCare Masterplan, was also highly commended.

The Sutton Estate

HTA said it led the renovation of four residential blocks on the 100-year-old social housing estate for Clarion, conserving the Edwardian Baroque character established in 1913. According to the practice, breathable wall insulation and a ground source heat pump system cut energy demand by 75%, and a 39% biodiversity net gain earned the project London's first Building with Nature accreditation.

Clarion said in January 2021 that Kensington and Chelsea Council had granted planning permission for the works, which it said would deliver 81 new social rented homes. Residents in the remaining 303 flats on the estate would get a programme of upgrades, the housing association said, with work expected to start on site in late spring 2021.

Clare Miller, chief executive of Clarion Housing Group, said at the time: "For over a century, the Sutton Estate has been at the heart of the community in Kensington and Chelsea."

HTA's awards register lists the Sutton Estate as a Building with Nature Award winner in 2022 and as highly commended in the retrofit and regeneration category of the 2026 Susdrain Awards.

Kidbrooke Park Road North

Royal Greenwich said Kidbrooke Park Road North has 122 one, two and three-bedroom homes and forms part of its 1,750-home Greenwich Builds programme. The council said construction was carried out by Durkan Homes, with part-funding from the Greater London Authority, and that the scheme includes a new nursery and a sustainable energy centre.

The council describes the scheme as the first phase of a 452-home social housing development, with a second phase to the south providing a further 330 homes. The Housing Design Awards entry for the scheme, which describes it as 122 fully affordable, net zero council homes built by Durkan for Greenwich Council and Greenwich Builds, says the wider development will ultimately deliver 445 family homes.

According to the Housing Design Awards entry, a ten-storey tower with a community centre at ground level marks the gateway to the development, on a site that was RAF Kidbrooke from 1917 to 1965 before becoming a school site.

Cllr Anthony Okereke, leader of the Royal Borough of Greenwich, said the council was "proud to be at the forefront of council home-building".

The council said in February 2026 that 591 homes in the Greenwich Builds programme were complete and 528 were under construction.

Greenwich Builds programme (February 2026)	Homes
Homes complete	591
Homes under construction	528
Programme total	1,750

HTA's register lists Kidbrooke Park Road North as a 2025 Housing Design Awards winner in the Complete category and a 2025 NLA Awards winner.