“House of the Future” competition winners
Written by Matthew Long
Three Rugby primary school children will have their work preserved for future generations, after winning a “House of the Future” design competition.
The time capsule will be buried next year at RadioStation Rugby, where some 6,200 new homes, schools, health facilities and open spaces will be delivered as part of the town’s new urban extension on the former radio mast site.
Shortlisted designs were displayed at the Rugby Village (Fanzone) on Wednesday 28 October, where the three winning contestants were announced and presented with goody bags by ex-England rugby player, Ben Kay.
Hillmorton Primary School pupils, Isabella Fallows, 9 and Mini Haddon, 8 were named as winners along with Ansruta Ayyalasomatajula, 9 from Clifton upon Dunsmore C of E Primary School, after impressing judges with their innovative designs.
Johanne Thomas from Urban&Civic, the developers behind RadioStation Rugby, said:
“We’ll bury the time capsule when we start building houses next year and we’ll be working with local communities to gather more items over the next six months. We have already had support from the Mayor, Cllr Richard Dodd, who has written a letter to the future residents of RadioStation Rugby.
“We will of course include lots of photos and items relating to the site’s fascinating history as the world’s most powerful radio station and then we have these brilliant picture insights from children of what the future might be like when the capsule is opened!”
Rooftop swimming pools, wind-powered bunkers and devices which automatically fold clothes before storing them away were just some of the amazing features of the three designs.
One brilliant design even featured a ladder leading from the house into a parked car, promising much easier early morning starts for future families.
Johanne said that picking just three winners from hundreds of entries was no easy task.
She added: “Children have the most incredible imagination for things like this and so it was inspiring to see all of their ideas. Some of these children may be the architects of the future so who knows, maybe we will all be living in rocket shaped houses in the future…”
6,200 new homes, 3 primary schools, one secondary school and an 8 GP health centre are planned for the site as well as extensive green and open space and around 14km of footpaths and cycleways. Work at RadioStation Rugby gets underway next month on the first roads and infrastructure with homes set to follow in summer next year.
