Architects collaborate for housing master plan

Six Guernsey architect firms are collaborating to work on a master plan for a large housing site on the island.

The project on La Vrangue hoped to deliver hundreds of mixed housing units, including sheltered housing and affordable homes.

Private landowner George Wilkinson and the States of Guernsey have backed the project and wanted to keep the expertise local.

La Vrangue is a test project to see if the combined approach could work on other housing sites around the island.

Andre Rolfe-Bisson, founder of A7 Architecture, headed up the collaborative approach and brought the practices together.

He said: "It's about setting egos aside and using our collective experience to remove the barriers that have held this site back.

"We live and work here - we know the land, we understand the constraints, and we see the opportunities.

"If this model works at La Vrangue, it could be applied to other stalled housing sites that require master planning."

The firms that are participating are A7, PF+A,CCD, DLM, JGA, and Lovell Ozanne.

Each practice submitted their own approaches to the site last month and the strongest elements for each one will be put together for the final plan.

Mr Rolfe-Bisson said: "This is the beginning of a conversation about how we work together differently."

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