The Pilgrims’ Friend Society’s (PFS) retirement housing in Evington, Leicester, was given the country’s Best Housing Project of the Year award in early April at a ceremony at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London.
The Building Awards is one of the most respected events in the built environment calendar. Run by Building Magazine, the award is for excellence and outstanding performance in the built category. Eight projects in the category had been shortlisted, and Pilgrim Gardens was the clear winner.
Pilgrim Gardens, an assisted living complex of 31 apartments next to the 44-acre Evington Park, was designed by PRP architects. It opened in the summer of 2013 and was quickly filled. It is the second housing prize award for Pilgrim Gardens. In 2012 it won the ‘Housing our Ageing Population: Panel for Innovation’ (HAPPI) prize.
A calm and secure ‘Japanese-inspired’ courtyard garden between the care home and the assisted living housing provides two separate spaces for residents to enjoy. The building has a low carbon footprint, including the innovative use of a combined heat and power generator that recycles heat from exhaust gases for use within the building.
