Future Homes was created to help tackle issues the country’s existing homes do not properly address.

This concept will involve efficient construction using modular steel facades, with extensive communal landscaping and green roofs.

The Future Homes Alliance (FHA) is a Community Interest Company formed by Newcastle University, Ryder Architecture, Zero Carbon Futures, the Elders Council, the Sustainable Communities Initiative, and the Innovation Super Network.

The FHA is working in partnership with Newcastle City Council and its development partner Karbon Homes to create sustainable urban housing, with flexible living spaces to suit residents’ changing needs.

The plans aim to maximise the solar aspect of the buildings, with all homes featuring floor to ceiling south-facing windows, and to provide high quality private and semi-public spaces.

Research and consultation

The design has been developed in collaboration with Newcastle Helix and their planning team. The partners worked together for over two years to develop a substantial base of research and extensive consultation with the local community.

Newcastle Helix has a global reputation as a place for business, world-leading research and innovation. It will now be a place where you can live well.

Ged Bell, Newcastle City Council

The buildings will all benefit from a range of communal facilities including gardens, mini-allotments, and secure cycle storage – all aimed at making the homes as sustainable and inexpensive to run as possible.

Key outcomes

The homes will all be affordable, and will be a mixture of social rent and Rent to Buy, giving opportunities to all sections of the community in Newcastle to live in the new development.

The Future Homes project will form just part of the residential element of the Helix site, which in total will deliver just under 400 homes by 2025.