A neighbourhood of custom-built homes in Basildon has won the Large Housing Schemes prize at this year's Essex Housing Awards.

Beechwood Village is a 250-home scheme that has been described by RIBA as “notable not only for its striking aesthetics, but for its high density and modular off-site construction technology”.

For architect Pollard Thomas Edwards this project, part of a wider masterplan extending the post-war new town, was a chance to provide new housing ‘product’: customisable new homes at an affordable price. Residents used a bespoke online configurator to select their plot, house type, the number of bedrooms and pick external finishes such as brick type and even amend their plan. Homeowners could add bays or extensions too, contributing to the design of their own dwelling as well as the look and feel of their street.

This has resulted in a suburban townscape marked by variety – and joy: people are rightly proud of their co-designed homes, and the distinctive qualities, the textures, colours, and shapes and forms, that define their part of the overall development.

It is the second year in a row that PTE has won the award– for projects delivering more than 100 homes, following the success of City Park West in Chelmsford, last year.