WEXFORD Corporation is the overall winner of the first design award for local authority housing, sponsored by the Department of the Environment. The winning design was for a 28 house project at Croke Avenue.
Other winners were Limerick Corporation, for a scheme in the city; Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council for schemes in Dalkey and Bray; Mayo and Louth County Councils for schemes in Westport and Ardee; and Dublin Corporation for a scheme in Buckingham Streets Railway Street.
The scheme promotes good design in local authority housing. Its conditions were drawn up with the aid of a steering committee and the co operation of the Royal Institute of Architects of Ireland.
"I hope we can kill off once and for all the perception that local authority housing is of its nature uniform, of mediocre standard, poorly located and of too large a scale," said the Minister of State at the Department, Ms Liz McManus.
"Today's housing policy cannot be reduced simply to numbers. Quality is of key importance if we are to provide a good living environment, revitalise communities and enhance the physical fabric of our cities, towns and villages," she said.
There were 59 entries for the awards, which were made in four categories infill schemes of two to 10 houses; other schemes of the same size; infill schemes of more than 10 houses, and other schemes of more than 10 houses.
The criteria used by the independent assessors included the degree to which the scheme created a pleasant living environment; made a positive contribution to the overall environment; and could be managed and maintained at reasonable cost.