Liverpool City Region’s Design Champion is to chair a panel of leading names in architecture and design to judge a contest to design a “Post-Covid Town House”.

The event is part of the inaugural Liverpool Architecture Festival supported by Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram – the first-ever event to showcase the city region’s architectural heritage and work to improve its future buildings and public spaces.

Stirling Prize-winning architect Paul Monaghan, a founding partner of Allford Hall Monaghan Morris, who designed the bereavement counselling centre at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital, will be joined by industry experts including Grand Designs TV presenter Kevin McCloud and the government’s chief planning officer, Joanna Averley.

The competition – to find a realistic design for an energy-efficient family home which could be taken forward as a deliverable scheme – is open to architects and students across the UK and offers a first prize of £4,000 with £1,000 for the runner-up.

Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram

Steve Rotheram, Metro Mayor of the Liverpool City Region said:

“The massive increase in people working from home during the pandemic has led to a lot of us rethinking our homes. No longer just a place for sleeping, our homes have become offices, gyms and much more too.

“I supported the Liverpool Architecture Festival because I believe that it’s vital that we rethink the way we design and build across our region. The Townhouse competition will be a really interesting first step toward that, with entrants looking to design the affordable, environmentally friendly and comfortable home of the future.

“We can’t build back better unless we start to build better too – and I’m sure this contest will help show us what that looks like.”

The festival opens in October with a two-week programme of lectures, workshops, walking and building tours, open studios and a symposium on the potential listed buildings of the future.

The Liverpool Townhouse competition brief challenges entrants to design a high-density family home which provides an efficient use of land with facilities that address the impact of the Covid pandemic.

It should also include private amenity space, secure cycle parking, home office space and needs to incorporate climate mitigation measures, providing “a realistic approach to cost and buildability as winning designs could be taken forward as deliverable scheme.”

Liverpool City Region Design Champion Paul Monaghan

Design Champion Paul Monaghan said:

“As we emerge from the pandemic and lockdowns, this seems like the perfect opportunity to think about how the last 18 months have changed our perception of home.

“People in the future will clearly need space for home working while useable outdoor space has become so much more important – I am also hoping there will be some innovative solutions in terms of addressing the climate crisis.

“It is also important that entrants recognise how the rich architectural heritage of the city region could influence new designs.”

Completing the judging panel are Plus Dane Housing Group’s former chief executive Barbara Spicer, James Soane, director of Project Orange Architecture, Hazel Rounding, director of Shed KM Architects and Lifa Zvimbande, Regional Director of RIBA North West.

Applications must be submitted to [email protected] via email by 5pm on 29 September with a deadline for Q&A of 28 August.