Carrowbreck Meadow, a 14-dwelling Passivhaus development in Norwich designed by Hamson Barron Smith, has been shortlisted in the RIBA East Awards 2017.

This project is innovative in its design, achieving full Passivhaus certification on a scale rarely seen in the UK, and a thermal bridge and draught free building envelope which exceeds regulations for airtightness five times over. Fresh filtered air is provided to the homes, utilising a heat recovery system capable of achieving over 90% efficiencies. All homes have electric car charging points, rainwater butts and connection points for PV, and are compliant with the recommendations of the National Housing Standards Review.

Carrowbreck is among 31 projects in the running for this year’s Regional Awards – the most ever to reach the second stage of judging – shortlisted from a record 62 entries.

Nicolas Tye, Chairman of RIBA East, said: “We’ve had an amazing response to the call for Award entries this year and it’s really great to see clients pushing for good design across such a broad spectrum, from schools and religious buildings through to housing schemes and one-off homes. All the architecture practices and their clients are to be congratulated for getting this far. The jury has a difficult task on its hands.”

The shortlisted buildings will be assessed by a visiting jury during April, with the RIBA East regional award winners being announced during a celebratory event on 18 April at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge.

Regional winners will then go forward to be considered for a highly-coveted RIBA National Award in recognition of their architectural excellence, which will be announced on 22 June. The shortlist for the RIBA Stirling Prize for the best building of the year will be drawn from the RIBA National Award-winning buildings later in the year.