igloo Regeneration
igloo Regeneration
When Igloo won the UK government's HOMES 2030 competition, they were looking for a way to turn ambitious sustainability targets into homes that could actually be delivered. Living Places provided both inspiration and a framework for action.
Building on their experience as one of the UK's leading sustainable developers, Igloo began working with Living Places partners to explore how healthier, lower-carbon and more affordable homes could be adapted to the UK market.
Today, 41 homes based on Living Places principles are in development in Sunderland, with the potential to influence a wider portfolio of approximately 5,000 homes across the UK.
From Inspiration to Implementation
For Igloo, Living Places was never about copying what had been built in Copenhagen. The value came from understanding the principles behind it.
The project demonstrated that healthier homes with a lower carbon footprint can be achieved using solutions that already exist today. The challenge was translating those principles into a different market, with different regulations, planning requirements and housing needs.
That process became the foundation for a new partnership.
“Living Places wasn't just inspiring. It led directly to a deeper partnership and a shared plan to build.”
Delivering Better Housing
The Sunderland project explores how housing can support health, longevity, flexibility and lower carbon emissions while remaining practical to build and affordable to live in.
For Igloo, these ambitions are closely connected.
Homes that are healthy, resource-efficient and adaptable over time create long-term value for residents, communities and developers alike.
The project applies Living Places principles within a real development context, testing how they can support housing delivery at scale.
“We need to make it affordable, simple, replicable and healthy. Because actually it's fundamentally the right thing to do.”
Building for the Future
One of the ambitions behind the project is to rethink how buildings perform over their lifetime.
Rather than creating homes that become outdated or difficult to adapt, the Sunderland development explores how housing can remain useful, flexible and resource-efficient for generations.
This includes considering how materials can be reused, how buildings can adapt to changing needs and how environmental impact can be reduced from the beginning.
“How do we design buildings in layers so you can access materials in the future? When something becomes out of date, you can remove it, it can be remanufactured or reused, and the building can continue, repaired, adapted and flexible into the future.”
Scaling Living Places
The Sunderland development represents more than a single project. It demonstrates how Living Places principles can move from a prototype into mainstream housing delivery.
By adapting the principles to local conditions and embedding them within real developments, Igloo is helping show how healthier, lower-carbon and more affordable housing can be delivered at scale.
The project illustrates what the Living Places Network was created to achieve: sharing knowledge, adapting ideas and turning proven principles into real homes for more people.