"The brief for the competition – organized by a property developer – called for a passiveenergy-standard housing scheme incorporating publicly assisted dwellings and in a timber form of construction. The architects’ solution met a variety of constraints, including the integration of the complex in the urban surroundings, compliance with the standards for passive-energy construction, as well as the provision of the requisite habitable quality. Situated on the edge of an existing housing area close to a stream, the three elongated building strips follow the alignment of the neighbouring developments. The scheme exhibits all the qualities one would expect of state-of-the-art multi-storey housing: it contains dwellings of different types and sizes (some suitable for wheelchair use) with well conceived layouts; and the flats have their own private balconies or terraces. "