Stour City - The Entrepreneurial Government

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RESEARCH BACKGROUND: 5th Studio - the architectural practice of Holbrook - developed 'Stour City' for the exhibition Four Visions for the Future of Housing held at the Royal Academy Architecture Space. 5th Studio was invited along with 3 other UK practices, to present their approaches to the current challenges and possible solutions to the current housing crisis. The work was subsequently exhibited at the 2016 International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam (IABR). RESEARCH CONTRIBUTION: The project offered an approach that drew upon Holland's role as 'enabling state' in housing development. In this partnership model, the state assembles land and lays out infrastructure, with sites then parcelled up for developers to build on, sharing costs, risks and profits in a more equitable way, thereby putting forgotten tracts of land throughout the UK to good use. This project draws on Holbrook's ongoing design research in developing strategic thinking that explores the dynamic between architecture and the scale of infrastructure and landscape, particularly within conservation, environmental sustainability and regeneration projects. RESEARCH SIGNIFICANCE: The Royal Academy exhibition was critically reviewed in the RIBA Journal, Building Design, and Construction Manager (Magazine of the UK Chartered Institute of Building). IABR is globally significant and considered the 'most engaged urban Biennale' in the world', offering an active critique of present and future built environments. The 2016 IABR was critically reviewed in Domus magazine and the Stour City project features in the Biennale catalog - The Next Economy, and in Bauwelt (Sept 2016) - the most significant German speaking Architecture magazine.