Perfect village designs unveiled

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The wraps are being taken off plans to turn a centuries-old village with a population of less than 100 into the ultimate example of eco-living.

Some of the UK's most high-profile modern architects submitted ideas to transform Lawrenny in Pembrokeshire.

They were asked to design up to 30 sustainable homes and workplaces which would rely on solar power, biomass from surrounding woodland and rain water.

The four finalists will go on display in the village at the weekend.

Nearly 100 competitors entered the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) run event.

On Monday the final four must battle it out as they make their last pitch behind closed doors to the family-run company that commissioned the competition.

One of the organisers, Adrian Lort-Phillips, said: "This is the thrilling conclusion to the competition that saw entries from across Europe.

Lawrenny Perfect Village Competition The finalists are Davies Sutton from Cardiff, Ash Sakula from London, Letts Wheeler from Nottingham and Tom Russell from BristolPower will be generated centrally by biomass from surrounding woodlandA municipal heating system will supply all new homesGas from a methane digester on the farm will be supplied for cooking

"They're vying to build state of the art homes in this National Park village, with sustainability, affordability and beautiful design at the centre of the challenge."

The designers were asked to redefine the way people live and work in rural homes and design houses that used minimal energy.

If built, Lawrenny, current holder of the title of Wales's Best Village, would nearly double in size.

"All four firms have picked up from our brief the importance of including the existing community in the design process," added Mr Lort-Phillips.

"They've got great ideas about how to get people in Lawrenny involved and this public display is part of that."

One of the challenges will be to try to pull in as much building material from the surrounding land as possible.

"Our woodland can provide timber, our quarries can provide stone," he added.

"So there's a real chance most of this village can be built straight off the land.

"But that's for later. For now we need to see which of these finalists is made of the right stuff."