A Comfortable Home - LSA DTT 2021-22 by james.mearns

A Comfortable Home

The Team We would like to give our gratitude to Błażej, Daniel, Emma and Richard for their enduring support throughout our explorations into 'A Comfortable Home'. Their wealth of knowledge on housing design, policy, regulations, economics, culture, trends and potentials has been an invaluable asset — without their questions, challenges, provocations and insights, this project would not have been possible.

The London School of Architecture Design Think Tank 2021–22 Błażej Czuba Daniel Ovalle Costal Emma Rutherford Richard Lavington Daniel Njoku Elliott Wang Funmi Adebiyi George Kelly Imogen Phillips James Mearns

Contents Executive

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Summary

ˡ247

ˡ1 Manifesto ˡ17 Comfort ˡ27

References ˡ263 Appendices Brief Site Selection London’s Housing Stock 5b 9jc`j]b[ Hmdc`c˩

House

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ˡ47

Shared Space Precedent Studies

Home ˡ89 Neighbourhood as Home ˡ171 Home in the City ˡ233

Housing Precedent Studies

ˡ275

ˏ What are the constituent parts

that bring the complex sensation of comfort into being? Could it become an idea that, like the [\aV\[ \S xa\YR_N[PRy ]_\cVQR` b` with a conceptual framework to structure the way we make spaces and places in the city far and wide? Most people recognise comfort when they experience it as a combination of sensations, many subconscious, not only physical but also emotional and intellectual. It V` \ƆR[ _RSR__RQ a\ N` b[VcR_`NY Oba this is clearly not the case...

...If comfort may then be understood as a changing ]UR[\ZR[\[ NŽRPaRQ Of PbYab_NY and historical forces, it may also P\[aV[bR a\ Rc\YcR V[a\ N P\[QVaV\[ that we may not yet be able to QRž[R \_ b[QR_`aN[Q

— Stephen Bates 1

A Comfortable Home: An Agenda for Future Housing Ach]jUh]cbg GhfUhY˩ Home Neighbourhood as Home Home in the City

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:\aVcNaV\[` @a_NaRTf' What, Why, How? Change An increasing convergence of pressures — a changing climate, deteriorating environment, volatile economies and a neoliberal housing market — puts our comfort at risk, even in our own homes. COVID-19 has acted as a great accelerator of this trend, prompting us to finally address the stagnation of domestic design standards; the experiential implications of their spatial restrictions become all the more clear when there is such a fundamental shift in how we live.

Executive Summary

At this pivotal time in history, in an unpredictable context with uncountable moving parts, we must envisage housing that is resilient and adaptable to change in order to bring comfort back to the dweller. A key stipulation of our initial brief was that all dwellings should be dual aspect 'through' flats, a more functionally and environmentally resilient typology than the typical single aspect flats we see built in London today. We add to this that the functions of rooms within homes should not be prescribed by their designer. People's domestic habits and routines are dynamic and idiosyncratic activities; our homes must be able to change through choice, not just necessity. A Matrix of Comfort We have developed a matrix of elements that a house should either provide or facilitate in order to be a comfortable home. The growth of these facilitated elements is what moves us from being content to being comfortable — moving house towards home. If comfort is therefore a state that can be achieved through changing one’s environment, we can induce that an adaptable home can provide comfort to any dweller. This home is inherently sustainable; its flexible spaces reduce the need for demolition, construction, or alteration, enabling a long life for the dwelling with a reduced carbon and long-term financial cost. Long Life, Loose Fit By making the functional and material lifespans of a home align through a strategy of spatial flexibility, we can make the most of each dwelling's up-front carbon cost. Our proposed flats are 25% larger than the Nationally Described Space Standards, increasing this initial carbon cost, but it is exactly this spatial float that enables greater adaptability, giving our homes longevity and saving carbon in the future. Simple, standardised, dry construction that lends itself to off-site fabrication allows us to build these larger areas with less money, using material efficiency to combat the QS’s mantra of cost as an exact function of area. The private outdoor spaces we provide are also sized above the minimum standard, addressing issues highlighted by the pandemic and facilitating future climate resilience.

Identity and Ownership Ultimately, our proposals set a stage for inhabitation; this is what turns house into home. Rather than prescribing a programme that must then be disentangled by a dweller in order to form a sense of ownership and identity within their home, we propose non-prescribed spaces that can each host a range of domestic rituals. This approach makes the initial act of inhabitation easier — more comfortable — and the aforementioned spatial generosity lessens the risk of compromise on established routines when a home is re-adapted.

A Matrix of Comfort

An Anchor

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Control

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Identity / Belonging

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Cleansing / Recharging

Transience / Nomadism

Domestic Processes

Religious Practices

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Ownership

Platonic Relations

@RebNY Relations

Objects / Possessions

Outdoor @]NPR

House into Home

An Anchor

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Control

@URYaR_

Identity / Belonging

@RPb_Vaf Asylum

Cleansing / Recharging

Transience / Nomadism

Domestic Processes

Religious Practices

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Ownership

Platonic Relations

@RebNY Relations

Objects / Possessions

Outdoor @]NPR

A comfortable home is an adaptable home, and an adaptable home is a sustainable one.

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Executive Summary

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Home

Executive Summary 4

A Stage for Inhabitation Our user-centred process means we have designed from the inside out. A selection of plan evolutions can be seen opposite, each of which could be a stage for inhabitation, a host for a diverse series of plays. The challenge has been to design a layout that does this as comfortably as possible, balancing specificity and non-specificity.

We acknowledge that flexibility occurs at various temporal scales. The most basic level relates to furniture layout, such as being able to put a bed in different orientations. Our homes take this further by allowing residents to comfortably move their bed, sofa, desk, armchair and so on to a different space entirely.

Alongside the removal of programmatic prescription, a key principle within a comfortable home is one of polyvalence. An equality of space means that rooms and the activities they are defined by are both commutable and permutable. Furthermore, there is a choice to connect or detach rooms in groups or series, so dwellers can create varying degrees of privacy or even colocate business and residence.

The highest level of flexibility is between subsequent dwellers. The lifespan of a house is often longer than the time that each inhabitant calls it home; a layout that has been adapted by one set of dwellers must be easily adaptable for the next. A composite of these three flexibilities of layout ultimately gives dwellers choice, empowering a diverse base of users to find comfort in their home.

Executive Summary

The 5 main phases of plan development, in S, M, L and XL forms. To scale at 1:400.

Executive Summary 6

A Bedroom-Led Market Homes in the UK are sold based on the number of bedrooms they contain. A 65sqm '3-bed' flat might be more expensive than a 75sqm '2-bed' flat, purely as a function of the prescription of these rooms. It is not uncommon for a living room to be converted into a bedroom to increase a property's market price prior to sale or rent. We look to challenge this status quo. Removing room prescriptions lends the flats to being marketed based on area, as is done in many other countries. From our research, many dwellers find that a home they once thought would be comfortable based on the number of rooms and market price does not actually suit their needs2. A more transparent market, selling homes with flexible, permutable and non-prescribed rooms, can only be beneficial for these dwellers.

DR Y\\X a\ Z\cR NdNf S_\Z TbVQN[PR aUNa žeNaR` on minimum areas and [\_ZNaVcR _\\Z` N[Q towards that which is based on comfort and quality of life.

Extra Large — 6 Person* 125sqm

Medium — 3 Person* 76sqm

Large — 4 Person* 88sqm

*recommended To scale at 1:200.

Executive Summary

Small — 2 Person* 63sqm

Neighbourhood as Home

Executive Summary A Positive Community The home extends beyond the confines of the individual dwelling. Just as rooms extend into private outdoor spaces, the essence of home pervades an entire neighbourhood. The same principles that have been applied to the 4 sizes of proposed flat are carried through to the shared spaces that connect them, the aim being to foster a positive community that enables residents to feel secure and comfortable in these less private spaces. Just as a balance is struck indoors between specificity and non-specificity, outdoors there must be harmony between inclusivity and anonymity within the city.

A plot in the emerging Canada Water Masterplan has been selected as a test bed for our design principles. On this site we envisage a resilient perimeter block, with a long and sustainable life enabled by

the flexibility of the components that comprise it. Two types of core are employed: one for the S, M and L deck access flats; one for the paired XL flats. These align with a metric of 'people per core'. For tight-knit communities to form, residents must feel ownership over their shared spaces; we are looking to combat the failures of deck access schemes that serve much larger numbers of flats. A simple gesture is to angle front doors to form shared porches. The communal access is treated similarly to the dwellings, enabling residents to personalise it and attain feelings of identity and ownership within their respective porch, core and block communities. Shared domestic elements filter down to the generous podium courtyard and to the active frontages at street level.

Executive Summary

Home in the City

Executive Summary 12

An Agenda for Future Housing While we have applied our design principles for A Comfortable Home to a site within Rotherhithe, the intention is that they could be realised in a range of city contexts as an agenda for future housing. The design process and resultant typology that we have developed are centred around a discrete series of rules — some quantitative, some qualitative — that could be adopted by any social-minded housing association to inform their design guidance.

Our ultimate clients are the communities that will turn these houses into homes. A refocusing of our housing agenda as described in this book can empower these communities to achieve comfort, despite the previously mentioned convergence of global pressures. This refocusing need not be loud, brash, or performative in order to be a radical model for housing; a radical approach is one that looks to address the fundamentals of an issue, working from the 'root'.3

Executive Summary

It is the quieter, younger sibling of radical, capital-A, Architecture that we all know so well.

Executive Summary

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This architecture is no longer about performance, Vay` NO\ba care. It is an architecture of gentle understanding, of listening, of responding. — Alberte Lauridsen 4

Manifesto

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Initial Brief: A Comfortable Home

Lockdowns — The lockdowns of the last two years have led many people to re-evaluate their lives, move home, change their home in some way or leave our city for the shortor long-term. — Lockdowns were an acute reminder that our housing stock is not fit for the climate emergency. — Architects are presented with an opportunity: to refocus on what is really important in housing. Density — Has London’s density gone too far? What is happening to the space for nature and people within our city? How intense do we want our city to be? The system — Are the homes of the ‘New London Vernacular’ really what we need for now and the future, or are they an aesthetically pleasing but unsustainable compromise? Challenge — To spatially address the changing climate and changing needs of residents. — To be aware of the social, political and economic realities of the system that we operate in. — To use truly dual aspect flats (i.e. those having windows on opposite sides of the building) as a driver of the design. — To design from the inside out. Site — A site on the edge of the emerging Canada Water Masterplan will be used as a test bed for applying our design ideas.

The full brief from Maccreanor Lavington is included in Appendix 1.

Responses to the Brief:

@]NaVNY Principle: Manifesto

Long Life, Loose Fit — Dual Aspect Flats ~ .QN]aNOYR @]NPR`

Experiential Principle: Identity and Ownership ~ . @aNTR S\_ 6[UNOVaNaV\[ ~ . =\`VaVcR 0\ZZb[Vaf 21

Long Dual Aspect Flats All flats must be truly dual aspect; that is, having windows on opposite façades. This facilitates effective cross-ventilation (even more effective than corner dual aspect flats5) and brings higher levels of daylight into deep plans. Inhabitants are offered a choice of views and environmental conditions — a sunny side, a quiet side, a not-so-smelly-or-polluted side — with this dichotomy between the two façades enabling future climate resilience.

Manifesto 22

Life,

Loose

Fit

.QN]aNOYR @]NPR` The functions of rooms should not be prescribed by their designer. Comfort can be attained through changing one's environment; inhabitants must be afforded the ability to do so. Spaces should be able to host not only a range of furniture in different orientations but also a variety of activities and rituals through the way they have been designed. This 'loose fit' flexibility enables a long life for the homes, reducing their long-term carbon and financial costs.

Manifesto 23

Identity . @aNTR S\_ 6[UNOVaNaV\[ The social, cultural and economic structures of London bring forth an ever-evolving patchwork of dwellers; for homes to provide comfort for all, they must evolve with — and cater to — this complex fabric. As outlined in this book, inhabitation is what turns house into home. The flats we design should set a stage for inhabitation, a domestic theatre in which any dweller can cultivate feelings of identity and ownership.

Manifesto 24

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. =\`VaVcR 0\ZZb[Vaf These feelings of identity and ownership must extend into the shared spaces that we design. Residents must feel safe and secure in order for a positive community to be fostered. Ensuring that they are proud of the spaces they share with their neighbours, and feel a sense of security and belonging within them, will lead them to feel a duty of care toward these communal areas. These spaces must ultimately feel as if they are extensions of the home. 25

Comfort A Series of Interviews A Matrix of Comfort House and Home

and sitting in my winter garden.

Crumbies!

. @R_VR` \S 6[aR_cVRd` and always bugsy the sofa.

and there’s a real deliberacy to the easability of the enfilade.

Well yeah, but...

Comfort

What is Comfort in the Home? From the outset we have put people first — after all, what else is housing for? We undertook a series of video interviews at the start of the project, with a view to developing our understanding of what comprises comfort within a home. We spoke to friends, relatives and past schoolteachers to get a snapshot of their experiences of comfort, making sure we covered a broad spectrum of ages, living conditions and a diverse range of cultural backgrounds. We specifically sought out non-spatially trained people, to attain non-architectural views that could be cross-referenced with our own.

...

Our diverse range of interviewees formed a focus group whose experiences and perceptions of comfort in the home acted as a key touchstone throughout the development of our project. Whilst this methodological approach provides deep and detailed insights into specific users' ways of living, it significantly limits our sample size. This shortfall has been addressed through further research and reading into comfort in the home in order to contextualise our primary data. The initial conversations with our focus group began to make clear the emotional and physical importance of the home in modern life, as both concept and object. Themes of shelter, identity, routine, family, and possessions resonated strongly throughout interviewees’ responses. Individual accounts revealed more sensitive, intricate and sometimes connotationally negative subjects revolving around memory, loneliness and discomfort; “home can, in negative life situations, become a concretization of human misery: of loneliness, rejection, exploitation and violence.”6 The full series of interviews accompanies this book in video format.

The Human Experience Below are our interviewees; opposite are the questions that we asked them. Many of the responses were unsurprising — such as the first and last questions typically being answered with a simple “yes” or “no” — but there were a few answers that revealed the incredibly personal nature of the concept of ‘home’ and its relationship to comfort. In one such response an interviewee stated that she likes her ‘house’ but not her ‘home’, evincing the layered and nested emotions

that comprise the concept; it is not a purely architectural entity. Several interviewees were indifferent in their feelings towards their home. Often these were people who had only recently moved house, or those with a more transient lifestyle (who were generally accepting of a lack of comfort). The main drawbacks in relation to comfort were to do with a lack of appropriate space, both internal and external. Many responses had a strong focus on thermal comfort,

particularly those from older interviewees. Central heating is often something we take for granted; the societal definition of comfort within the home has likely evolved since its introduction. Very few responses were directly concerned with views out from the home, instead considering the ways in which non-visual external factors may impact life inside the home — such as sun, rain, snow and, most importantly, daylight.

Well yeah, but...

Comfort and sitting in my winter garden.

Crumbies!

and always bugsy the sofa.

...

and there’s a real deliberacy to the easability of the enfilade.

— Do you think your home is comfortable? — Where in your home are you comfortable? Comfort

— Where in your home are you uncomfortable? — In comparing your current home to your childhood home, is there an element of comfort that is missing? — Other than the house itself, what object do you think of when you think of home? ~ DUNa Re]R_VR[PR Q\ f\b cNYbR Z\`a V[ your home and why? — What do you need your home for? — Do you like your home?

Comfort

“This is us. Our house _RſRPa` b` N[Q our lifestyle... Vay` ]N_a \S b` { — Halina

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z.a Zf NTR Vay` N place of residence, right? An anchor... somewhere... a U\ZR 6 Q\[ya TRa \ba so much so I need a P\ZS\_aNOYR U\ZR { — Conway

Air Quality Air Temperature Convection Conditions

Environmental

Humidity Light Intensity Mean Radiant Temperature Noise

Age Clothing

Comfort

Physiological

Gender Health Metabolic Rate

Control Culture Expectations Health Intent Memory Naturalness Stimulation

Definitions of Comfort It is perhaps unsurprising that many responses from this series of interviews related to a feeling of home: “If there is a fundamental character of the human being, it is its feeling of not being at home.”7

In addition to the more personal perceptions of comfort within the home, there are more universally accepted definitions of comfort. These definitions are concerned with the more scientific and measurable matters of environment, physiology and psychology (in chemical terms), but are clearly lacking the human element that we have explored through our ethnographic research.

Psychological

Comfort

Further Reading In order to contextualise our primary research, we looked at a range of texts and reports concerned with housing in the UK, as detailed in the bibliography. Two key reports from the RIBA highlighted people’s attitudes towards the current housing stock in the UK — and general discomfort within their homes. These summative texts supported not only the other guides, handbooks and critiques that we read, but also corroborated our findings from the interviews. They reinforced the idea that comfort is something found within the home if there is enough generosity and subsequent flexibility for it to emerge. Residents must be able to make their house into a comfortable home.

A Matrix of Comfort

An Anchor

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Control

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Identity / Belonging

Cleansing / Recharging

Transience / Nomadism

Domestic Processes

Religious Practices

@aNab`

Ownership

Platonic Relations

@RebNY Relations

Objects / Possessions

Outdoor @]NPR

Comfort

@URYaR_

Comfort

Distilling Comfort in the Home Based on our collected data, research and readings, we have identified 16 key aspects of home life. These are the elements that a home should either provide or facilitate in order to bring comfort to the acts of dwelling and inhabitation. These 16 benchmarks form a matrix of comfort, shown opposite.

Exterior

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All Quadrants, All Levels As an initial investigation into how these elements manifest within the home, we categorised them according to the dimensions of integral theory8. The creation of these sub-categories starts the process of examining and prioritising elements of the home. From this we discover that only one of the elements we have identified relates to the individual in the objective: shelter. The other individual elements of home are highly personal and subjective.

Interior

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Identity / Belonging

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Cleansing / Recharging

Transience / Nomadism

Domestic Processes

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Ownership

Platonic Relations

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Objects / Possessions

Outdoor @]NPR

Comfort

An Anchor

Primal, Emotional, Physical, Social The elements can also be categorised according to how they relate to the individual dweller. There is a fairly even split here — but also a significant overlap, with multiple elements that could fall into more than one of the categories. The state of comfort within the home is complex and expansive.

Primal

Emotional

Physical

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Comfort

An Anchor

Comfort 42

An Anchor

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Control

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Identity / Belonging

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Cleansing / Recharging

Transience / Nomadism

Domestic Processes

Religious Practices

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Ownership

Platonic Relations

@RebNY Relations

Objects / Possessions

Outdoor @]NPR

An Anchor

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Control

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Identity / Belonging

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Cleansing / Recharging

Transience / Nomadism

Domestic Processes

Religious Practices

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Platonic Relations

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Objects / Possessions

Outdoor @]NPR

Anchoring Elements Coloured here are the elements that can root a person to an architecture of home. These are the aspects of a dwelling that are tied specifically to that architecture, through memory, experience or habit; they may also be only provided by that piece of architecture and no other.

Commodifiable Elements The highlighted elements here are those aspects of home life that may become shared — between residents, friends, visitors. Those elements that are not highlighted are intimately linked to an individual dweller’s persona and psyche, ultimately making it less possible to treat them as shared or commodified spaces and experiences.

An Anchor

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Control

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Identity / Belonging

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Transience / Nomadism

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Objects / Possessions

Ownership

Outdoor @]NPR

An Anchor

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Control

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Identity / Belonging

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Cleansing / Recharging

Transience / Nomadism

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Religious Practices

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Ownership

Platonic Relations

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Outdoor @]NPR

The only element that we do not see as gendered is the utilitarian notion of shelter. It is interesting that this element is also the only one that falls into the Upper Right quadrant of the AQAL diagram. The other elements are either emotional and thus susceptible to external influence, or collective and thus dictated by society. The gendering of space has wide-ranging implications on people's comfort within the home. Suppressing or removing this gendering entirely will make more comfortable homes for all.

Comfort

Platonic Relations

Religious Practices

Historically Gendered Elements Life within the home is inherently gendered; housing reproduces institutions of gender and sexuality that are the backbone of the patriarchal systems that create it. “The house is literally understood as a mechanism for the domestication of women.”9 This has been canon since the first printed book on architecture, Alberti’s 'De re aedificatoria', in which he presents strong views of gender segregation, confining women deep within the house10.

Hotels, Rentals, Lodgings Home to many is transient. As a product of someone's job or through choice alone, a certain state of flux can see hotels and short-term rentals become a person's 'home'11. This transience is something that a home as it is typically understood should also facilitate in order to be comfortable for as many people as possible. Even for a dweller in a state of transience, an anchoring feeling of 'home' could develop over a prolonged period of time. This feeling of home is generally related to a location, but could be spread across various loci if this aligns with an individual's understanding of what home might be. This is also true for most of the other unhighlighted elements.

House

Home

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Control

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Identity / Belonging

@RPb_Vaf Asylum

Cleansing / Recharging

Transience / Nomadism

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Religious Practices

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Ownership

Platonic Relations

@RebNY Relations

Objects / Possessions

Outdoor @]NPR

Comfort

An Anchor

Comfort

House and Home In designing the home it becomes crucial to understand what can be concretely provided by the architecture itself (pink), and what is contributed by a dweller to turn house into home (red). In a comfortable home, there should be a physical and psychological ease with which the acts of dwelling and inhabitation can effect this transition. Any significant hardship within this process would make the home uncomfortable by definition. For a house to become a comfortable home by the metrics of this matrix, it is hence vital for it to enable or facilitate the specific needs of the individual through the nonexclusivity of its spaces.

The formation of a home, let alone a comfortable one, is a process that must start with a house that can enable this formation.

House Precedent Analysis Mass Housing in London Rituals & Routines Prescription of Area Working from Home Resisting Systems

Precedent Analysis To accompany our experiential research into what comprises comfort in the home, a breadth of spatial research was undertaken to assess how we might design a house that facilitates this comfort. Through our precedent research, a running theme of fixed vs. flexible emerged. Fixing services or other organisational structures in a consistent location within flats enables the negative space around them to be flexible. The location of these fixed elements has a significant impact on the type of flexibility that can be achieved and the relative comfort and privacy of these spaces, particularly in a dual aspect through flat. A selection of the precedents that we studied are examined over the next few pages. 48

Dapperbuurt Duinker van der Torre These dwellings, accessed in groups of three through an external entryway and associated landing, are each organised around a central core. This is located slightly off-centre, so spaces of varying dimensions are created around it. The core also incorporates a series of sliding partitions, allowing the dwelling’s occupants to alter the arrangement of spaces freely when needed.

A level of polyvalence is offered by the ‘shortcut’ past the wet area within the core; it is possible to access each space by two different routes. This small corridor allows for a simple and subtle circumvention of spaces if needed.

Natal Frits van Dongen Here the central core has been placed exactly at the centroid of the plan. This leaves enough space on either façade for a living area or two sleeping spaces, separated visually by the core. The location of these partitions is decided by the residents rather than the architect. An interesting concept illustrated in one of van Dongen’s potential layouts involves introducing a door whose two sides can be accessed without passing through the door itself or any other thresholds; it forms a physical separation that is discernible only when within either of the zones immediately adjacent to it.

Domus Demain Yves Lion + Francois Leclercq Dual aspect through flats typically lend themselves to cores located along the flanking party walls, or detached from these and often positioned centrally within the dwelling. Here, service zones are positioned along the line of the façade, integrating the two to form a singular unified system. The intended outcome is to provide optimum free space within the central zone of the plan, with all service elements extracted from the living space. Perhaps marginally too exhibitionist in style, it appears to be a radical approach that has not been replicated or realised elsewhere.

House

Aula Modula Studio BELEM Aula Modula forms homes based solely on the combination of square rooms in a strongly gridded layout. These plans offer a variety of options in terms of room functions and sizing, due to their large openable walls. We can immediately question what it feels like to live in these dwellings. The repetitive and equal nature of all of the rooms (bar the bathrooms) means that there is no immediate spatial hierarchy. We also begin to question the number of openings into each of the rooms, and whether this volume is facilitating a high level of flexibility or severely limiting it.

110 Rooms MAIO MAIO created an interesting floor plan by tightly knitting together the 5 principle rooms of the home and, again, grouping together the utilities that flank the central room. This plan allows for a theoretical fluidity of movement through the plan, but would be at least partially hindered by the spatial layout and function of each space. Kitchens must exist in the centre, which means borrowed light will most likely need to be attained from the outer façade. The flipping of rooms connected to the centre through a large opening means that the plan has a the potential to provide commutable spaces. Small terraces privately serve each of the back rooms, which feels like a missed opportunity to combine them and form a larger amenity.

85 Social Dwellings in Cornellà Peris+Toral arquitectes Much like the Aula Modula, this project is based on a grid system allowing for a freedom of function and combination throughout the home. Again, however, it falls into the same traps creating a series of identical spaces which all have a minimum of three entrances into them. Circulation is then forced to either go straight through a square room, potentially dividing the function, or awkwardly around the side, avoiding furniture along the way. As well as this, we see again that there is no spatial hierarchy presen. The multiple entrances, though they offer a wide variety of flexibility, also potentially offer too much choice, limiting rooms from hosting singular functions.

House 52

Paris Housing Georges-Eugène Haussmann This style of Bourgeois housing emphasises and plays on the act of progressing through the spaces within a home. Long corridors leading into spaces that can open into one another, forming an enfilade, presents the potential for a very grand series of spaces to be formed. These joinings of rooms offer a certain degree of freedom within their function. The long corridors and hallways, book-ended with windows, draw dwellers through the building.

Long House David Leech David Leech’s Long House is formed based on old Irish Clachans, a type of rural home formed of a straight run of separate buildings, with each space holding its own separate function. Leech’s contemporary approach to this is to maintain the long, straight form and instead combine the dwellings to create a single Long House. In doing this, he creates a long corridor running down the dwelling ending the main social space. This long corridor is wide enough to be inhabited not just with shelves but also desks and small tables. Its form holds an inviting quality, drawing the dweller or visitor through the house — an enfilade.

Casa Batlló Antoni Gaudí Much like the similar style of Bourgeois housing seen in Paris, Casa Batlló takes an even more rectilinear approach to progression and movement through the home (though the walls have been rationalised since Gaudí drew the original plans). The progression through the home is emphasised here, with large, long corridors leading to all of the rooms within the dwellings. Large windows at the ends of corridors again act as tools to draw the dweller through the home. A centralised core allows for the home to easily achieve dual aspect and allows for the entrance to be in the middle of the plan, providing an equality of space across either side.

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Casa de la Marina Josep Antoni Coderch Coderch’s Casa de la Marina presents an interesting take on the provision and location of external spaces surrounding a dwelling. Every room has access to both natural light and ventilation, with principal rooms being given access to small external terraces. These terraces are then woven into the façades, creating an angled outer layer to the dwelling. Though throughout this is admirable, it does result in a lack of privacy between dwellers within the homes as two balconies are shared between three bedrooms, all quite tightly knit together. The overall angular nature of the flats results in unique but potentially challenging spaces when considering daily routines and furniture layouts.

Haarlemmer Housing Herman Hertzberger Here we examine two aspects of Hertzberger’s work. Firstly, the porches of Haarlemmer Houttuinen are designed in a way that facilitates interaction between neighbours; they pass not only into their homes but also as they move down the street. In parallel, the porches and terraces above are readily inhabitable, providing a sense of ownership and identity to the front porch and also encouraging passive surveillance along the street. The second aspect is the dynamic mix of horizontal and vertical movement throughout the flats. Stairs are not specifically located to only one part of the house. We can imagine that this encourages further movement throughout the spaces of the home, drawing the resident through.cend.

McGrath Road Peter Barber Peter Barber deploys a simple and interesting strategy towards the form of the private external amenity at McGrath Road. The terrace sits back as a chamfer into the building, providing a very private external space. The angle of this terrace also creates a unique relationship with the space adjacent to it. Most likely a bedroom, this large, angled opening, would result in the terrace feeling like an extension of the room rather than an external addition. This is furthered by the terrace’s position with the overall area of the plan.

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Private

4.5m

Inhabitation

1.5m

Utilities / Storage

1.5m

Circulation

1.5m

Utilities / Storage

4.5m

Inhabitation

Bath

W.C.

Circulation Kitchen

Semi-Private

House Terrace

Outdoor

1:200 0

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V1: System of Fixed vs. Flexible Our initial design diagram focused on clustering services, utilities and storage into a central zone within the dwelling. We called this our ‘superfurniture’. Grouping these 'back-of-house' elements frees up the surrounding space, maximising flexibility for the habitable areas within the dwelling. Positioning the superfurniture within a central zone means that these habitable zones sit in more desirable locations along the façades. These spaces would be equal in all conditions but solar orientation, aligning with a principle of spatial adaptability — dwellers can choose which rooms to place where.

The superfurniture would also host the entrance to the dwelling, providing an ancillary vestibule similar to a hallway that can feed into all other spaces of the house.

The central band can therefore form a clear division between public and private space if desired. Based on a 1.5 metre grid, the plans would grow in size (and hence type) by addition of single or double ‘bays’. This basic 1.5m module was chosen for a series of reasons, primarily: — 1.5m is a comfortable width for a wheelchair travelling along a corridor; — 1.5m is a comfortable width for an ambulant resident walking along a corridor that is inhabited with objects on either side; — 1.5m is a comfortable depth for a utilities zone; — 3m is a comfortable width for a room.

Opposite: The five major phases of our plan development (V1—V5). To scale at 1:400.

House

Mass Housing in London Kitchen

Dining

*see key to kitchen items

dining area calculated as difference of kitchen dining and kitchen

Living

Double

Twin

Single

Bath

Combined Kitchen/ Living/Dining:

3400

2400

21 sq.m

185

CYL

6.2 sq.m

9.4 sq.m dining area 3.2 sq.m

12.0 sq.m

3700

4000

23 sq.m

2100

CYL

10.4 sq.m dining area 3.6 sq.m

6.8 sq.m

4000

750

25 sq.m

2400

3000

3500

2800

2600

House

2100

3300

4000

Bath 4.4 s

Double Bedroom 12.0 sq.m

13.0 sq.m

2900

2-bed, 3-persons

3000

3500

2600

2600 T DW

4000

Shower 3.6 sq

750

2600

Bedspace 8.0 sq.m

2100

1-bed, 2-persons

3500

2600

1-person

3300

3600

2400

CYL

7.5 sq.m

11.2 sq.m dining area 3.6 sq.m

14.0 sq.m

Double Bedroom 12.0 sq.m

4000

Single Bedroom 8.0 sq.m

Bathroom 4.4 sq.m

4000 2100

750

2900

3000

27 sq.m

3000

3700

3000

2600

2-bed, 4-persons

2100

CYL

7.5 sq.m

12.0 sq.m dining area 4.5 sq.m

Twin Bedroom 12.0 sq.m

Double Bedroom 12.0 sq.m

14.8 sq.m

Bathroom 4.4 sq.m

4000

4000 3300

2100

2400

3000

29 sq.m

3000

4000

3200 AE

2100

2600

3-bed, 5-persons

750

3200

1150

2100 4000

4000

CYL

8.3 sq.m

12.8 sq.m dining area 4.5 sq.m

16.0 sq.m

4000

4250

Single Bedroom 8.0 sq.m

Twin Bedroom 12.0 sq.m

Double Bedroom 12.0 sq.m

Bathroom + WC 6.8 sq.m

3300

4000 750

2400

3700

9.6 sq.m

2100

3000

4000

31 sq.m

2400

2100

3000

2600

4-bed, 6-persons

3600

2100

1150

4000

CYL

14.4 sq.m dining area 4.8 sq.m

17.0 sq.m

Double Bedroom 12.0 sq.m

Twin Bedroom 12.0 sq.m

3300

2 Single Bedroom 16.0 sq.m

Bathroom + WC 6.8 sq.m

Storage/Utility

Outdoor Amenity Space

GIA Net Internal

Circulation:

33.5 sq.m

1 Level Flat + 1.5 sq.m

Partition walls allow 5 %

[exc. amenity]

2 sq.m

37 sq.m

2000

hroom

1500

750

0 75

1945

2600

30 13

4 sq.m

Room q.m

1330

Storage 1p 1 sq.m

2000

100 3200

0 75

41 sq.m

1 Level Flat + 6.5 sq.m

2.5 sq.m

50 sq.m

5 sq.m

room sq.m

2000

Storage 2p 1.5 sq.m

51.5 sq.m

1 Level Flat + 6.5 sq.m

3 sq.m

61 sq.m

54.5 sq.m

2 Storey House + 19 sq.m

3.5 sq.m

77 sq.m

3300

750

5 12

1900

0 75

1900

0 141

1400

6 sq.m

Wheelchair WC NO Shower 2.7 sq.m

2660

Storage 3p 2.0 sq.m

2000

required on entrance level for multi-level units

750

1400

Wheelchair WC NO Shower 2.7 sq.m

1 Level Flat + 8.5 sq.m

3.5 sq.m

70 sq.m

7 sq.m

60 sq.m

2 Storey House + 19 sq.m

4 sq.m

83 sq.m

71 sq.m

1 Level Flat + 10.5 sq.m

4.5 sq.m

86 sq.m

72 sq.m

2 Storey House + 19 sq.m

5.0 sq.m

96 sq.m

72 sq.m

2 Storey House + 25 sq.m

5.0 sq.m

102 sq.m

Storage 4p 2.5 sq.m

Option: Utility Room

3400

750

Storage 5p 3.0 sq.m

2450

1945

20 20

CYL

2000

1800

1850

8 sq.m

3.6 sq.m 4000

required on entrance level for multilevel units

Option: Utility Room

81.5 sq.m

1 Level Flat + 12.5 sq.m

5.0 sq.m

99 sq.m

82.5 sq.m

2 Storey House + 19 sq.m

5.5 sq.m

107 sq.m

82.5 sq.m

2 Storey House + 25 sq.m

5.5 sq.m

113 sq.m

4000

1945

0 75

Storage 6p 3.5 sq.m

1000

CYL

2000

9 sq.m 3.6 sq.m

4600

2250

2000

1800 20

1850

Wheelchair WC C WITH shower 3.6 sq.m

58 sq.m

3300

required on entrance level for multilevel units

Wheelchair WC WITH shower 3.6 sq.m

3600 0

1950

0 18

0 75

1900

0 15

Unfortunately, even within the mass housing climate of London today, ‘houses’ (read: flats) are treated as one-size-fits-all — or, rather, a-few-sizes-fit-most. Often led by private speculative development, the ways in which people can expect to live are codified in regulation, or at least programmatically prescribed through strong recommendations during the design process.

House

2000

required on entrance level for multi-level units

0 75

750

5 12

1500

0 75

The London Housing Design Guide This initial response of fixed vs. flexible space was a direct product of precedent research and analysis. We recognised that this approach could empower dwellers to organise their spaces in a huge variety of ways, particularly with the 'flexible space' not being programmatically prescribed.

Space standards certainly provide an improvement in domestic comfort compared to how we might have lived in the past, but they are ultimately problematic. We see three key shortcomings: — Functional Prescription The existence of a bedroom implies four other rooms (bathroom, kitchen, living and dining), all of which are largely inflexible. — Spatial Prescription The minimum areas set out as guidance here and in the Nationally Described Space Standards have rapidly become maxima for the housing developer. — Experiential Implications The spaces that someone may wish to have within their home, how these are connected, and how they are hierarchically balanced is ideally determinable by themselves. To have function, size and location of a normative set of rooms prescribed from the outset directly contravenes the ease with which someone can find comfort in their home. 57

?VabNY` ?\baV[R` Function or Activity? We see it fit that the programmatic prescription of rooms is removed from the housing lexicon. People must be able to adapt the spaces within their home to make their daily lives comfortable. Our lives are not defined by functions that give their names to rooms, like a dining room or bedroom, but rather activities and rituals that generate spaces around them. The existence of rituals provides “an orientation and continuity on which patterns of behaviour can be established and preserved”12, ultimately giving us stability and anchoring us to a place. House 58

Stijn Jonckheere's project for a holiday home in Greece (below) acutely examines the rituals with which his clients define their domestic lives. This series of investigative illustrations emphasises the overlapping of activities within the home. Were the house to be strictly defined by rooms — prescribed by the architect — there would be an impact on the comfort with which the family could carry out their day-to-day lives. The specificity of spaces must be challenged if we are to make comfortable homes that cater to dwellers as diverse as London's, particularly in a mass housing context.

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Normative Spaces An analysis of the routines and activities that take place within the normative rooms of a British home (those shown above and within the London Housing Design Guide) reveals how they can be disentangled from the spaces that often define them. There is a complex web of rituals that overlap between these rooms, rituals that extend beyond the norms of the nuclear family. We see a looseness of domestic space as more appropriate for the 21st century than function-based rooms, empowering dwellers to comfortably enact and re-enact these activities.

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The Kitchen/Dining Room Throughout the interviews we conducted, the kitchen, dining and living areas were constantly referenced in the discussion of comfort. There was, understandably, a key focus on shared experiences within these spaces. The kitchen in particular often presents itself as the core of family life — the place where everyone comes together — with the dining room subservient to and dependent upon (though commonly linked to) this space. Many domestic processes stem from the space depicted opposite; we can see typical rhythms of ritual emerging when we map the normative furniture of a kitchen onto an arbitrary area of space. The acts of cooking and sharing a meal are the primary household activities that take place here — acts of reproductive labour — but we can also imagine these spaces hosting a plethora of activities beyond the culinary that are similarly communal in nature. The kitchen table is a common place for children to complete homework, but with recent developments it has also played a role in providing space for professional work to take place, introducing a new set of dwellers and their needs into the rituals of this space. Here it is imagined that a separate desk is introduced — perhaps the kitchen is the only space for it in this house. This is a space for the gathering of people — maybe in the form of a games night or celebratory meal — but also for the gathering of objects. The kitchen is often a place of clutter and storage, with oddity drawers of loose ends and cupboards of heirlooms.

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The Living Room The living room contains all the activities that have not been extracted from it into other spaces. It is the descendant of the grand hall of pre-industrial Britain, but the development of the other spaces within the home has pulled it into a state of limbo. Unlike rooms such as the kitchen and bathroom, the living room can arguably be said to have no definite routines that take place in it. Instead, the majority of uses have become outsourced to the rest of the home. This limbo state can also be seen in the layouts of these rooms, with orientations mostly relying on a hybrid between an enclosing ‘social space’ and the space-defining position of the television — though even this function is being extracted. The living room therefore presents itself as a space which can be used for a huge variety of overlapping activity; almost a blank canvas for inhabitation. It is one of the normative rooms in which comfort is most readily achievable, led largely by a combination of soft furnishings and personal artefacts of memory and identity. Opposite we imagine the scene after a TV dinner. A scattering of sidetables and chests of drawers hint at the other activities of the day: hanging pictures, redecorating, reading a book, calling family.

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The Bedroom Consistent reference was made to the bedroom throughout our interviews. The bedroom offers an inner sanctum, with many interviewees highlighting it as the most comfortable and often their favourite part of the home. It is perhaps unsurprising that this room maps strongly onto our Matrix of Comfort; it is typically the most readily personalised space within the home. For people living with family, the bedroom played an especially personal role, allowing for a singular space of solace to be formed away from the rest of the household. It is likely that the atmosphere of the bedroom will be the most intense summation of someone's identity in a home of multiple occupants. When examining the bedroom and its daily rituals, we see that the majority of these are based, unsurprisingly, around the bed. This was the most common response when our focus group were asked which object they think of when they think of home. It is the essential element without which the bedroom would not exist, also playing a key part in most bedroom-based rituals. Its ability to host storage further strengthens its significance in the overlapping routines of everday life. As the most private space within the house, many activities that could take place elsewhere can also be conducted within the bedroom if desired. Whether this is a makeup routine, prayer ritual, or simply some light entertainment, the bedroom offers a space for withdrawal from external pressures.

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The Bathroom The Bathroom finds itself in a unique position in the household. It is typically the least communal space of all, only being used by one person at a time. It is also a place that is heavily designed and defined by routine, with each element of the bathroom interacting with another in some way. These daily routines of any number of dwellers overlap significantly in what is normally a very small space. Due to its private nature, the bathroom is seen as a space that can remain largely the same across households, fluctuating only for specific user needs such as disabilities. It can also be a space for contemplation, recharging and reflection — private in the way that a bedroom is, but disconnected from the connotations of objects and spatial organisers that structure this more innately personal room. The bathroom is a very inorganic environment. As a series of containers for our natural cleansing processes, social structures of privacy (and of course sanitary standards) have pushed it as a room to become largely sterile and devoid of life. Harsh products for cleaning both our bodies and the surfaces that they interact with further this sterility. Plants that enjoy a humid environment and low levels of light provide an avenue with which to attempt the reintroduction of natural life into these spaces, with the presence of even a small specimen having a noticeable impact on the feeling of meditative comfort within the bathroom.

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An Organogram In disentangling the routines of the home from the spaces we carry them out in, we find that activities can be grouped into categories such as rest, storage, cooking and so on, as shown in the organogram opposite. This restructuring of spaces based on activity and ritual implies a non-prescription of room functions, instead allowing inhabitants to choose which activities are best suited to which spaces.

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A 'Naked House' Approach The initial design response, V1, approached the non-prescription of spaces at an extreme: not only were functions unprescribed, so were areas and shapes of rooms. This 'naked house' approach13 gives inhabitants immediate agency over their spaces, but is arguably too loose. There is a reason that architects are often employed to design homes: most people are not spatially trained and would not be comfortable with having to decide the exact arrangements of spaces within their home.

Furthermore, it is reasonable to assume that at least some dwellers would quickly experience 'builder's remorse', becoming uncomfortable within the constraints of the partitions that they had previously erected.

They would then have to demolish old walls and install new ones to reattain comfort — a wholly wasteful activity in a dwelling that was once marketed as flexible and adaptable. The same is true for when a new tenant moves into a previously inhabited dwelling. Either they must live with someone else's 'comfortable home', or remove and reinstate partitions. This latter option is similar to how commercial offices operate, but is both financially and environmentally unsustainable. Counterintuitively, the extreme looseness of space creates more constrained and uncomfortable spaces in the future. This is incompatible with a strategy of long life, loose fit.

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An Uncomfortable House These diagrams whimsically explore how partitions could be erected within the parameters set by V1. Would you be comfortable living in one of these layouts?

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V2: System of Proportion This intermediate phase looked to tackle the odd proportions of the quite skinny and quite deep flats of V1. Moving away from a system of bays, we looked towards arrangements that were more responsive to the typical size of rooms. Our hope was that we could retain a 'naked house' approach, providing residents with agency and control over their spaces, but with a lesser risk of uncomfortable spaces being created.

We retained the premise of services being grouped at the centre of the flats, giving priority to habitable rooms, but reproportioned the dwellings in order to constrain the number of options for the placement of partitions. Residents could still shape the spaces in their dwellings as

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they saw fit, but it was more likely that the proportions of these resultant rooms would be more comfortable. At this stage, we also explored moving away from purely side-access flats, introducing deck access for the smaller dwellings. This would reduce the number of cores needed to serve our dwellings, allowing us to achieve a more sensible and appropriate density on any given site. In parallel with this, we began to examine the possibility of sinking terraces into the rectilinear form of the home. However, with dwellings being only single storey, this risked creating dark, undesirable spaces. This would not constitute a comfortable terrace.

Opposite: The five major phases of plan development (V1—V5). To scale at 1:400.

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House Diagram, base plan and inhabitation tests of 'V3'. This was the design we presented at the Workshop.

V3: System of Equality In order to counteract the issues of V2, many of which stemmed from clinging onto an incredibly loose 'naked house' model, we chose to introduce more fixed room dimensions. The sizes and proportions of the dwellings did not change significantly. Instead, we introduced partitions in places that would provide equal-sized rooms, with comfortable proportions and areas.

While slightly constraining the previously ultra-loose spaces of the homes, we

simultaneously introduced more flexibility into the central superfurniture. We were beginning to strike a balance between specificity and non-specificity; between comfort and adaptability. The superfurniture no longer forced a central corridor, instead allowing dwellers to twist and turn their circulation around the spaces on either side. This introduced a certain level of fluidity to the day-today use of the flats. The services and the

superfurniture began to be treated less as objects and more as zones. Previous iterations had, at moments, envisioned the superfurniture as a dividing element to separate 'public' and 'private. This was an inflexible arrangement. Cutting through the central space, increasing its permeability, still facilitated this division if desired but did not force it. This design move looked to accommodate a broader range of lifestyles within our dwellings.

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Prescription of Area Prescriptive or Restrictive? While the rooms we introduced in V3 were still functionally non-prescript, we had fallen into prescribing fixed areas. Residents would still able to knock through walls or erect them if it would enhance their comfort, but this process moves us back towards the issues of unsustainability that plagued the plans of V1 and V2. This is also not really any different to how flats in London work today. To this point we had explored spatial activities and rituals in relation to the function of domestic space, but had not yet addressed area — the other prescription of the London Housing Design Guide. We were intrigued by the idea that area could still be prescriptive but not restrictive on the lives and activities of dwellers. This would be afforded by the ability to expand and contract spaces throughout a home's lifetime, adapting the dwelling to the residents' fluctuations in parameters for a comfortable home.

Rather than focusing only on flexibility of use, as we had to this point, we looked to push flexibility of area to an extreme, to see if this brought comfort into the home.

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140

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GBR ITA POR SWE FIN

LUX GER FRA NLD BEL GRC DNK

Average dwelling size (m2)

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AUT ESP

LUX GER FRA NLD BEL GRC DNK

Average number of rooms per dwelling

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IRL

AUT ESP

LUX GER FRA NLD BEL GRC DNK

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Average room size (m2)

IRL

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LUX GER FRA NLD BEL GRC DNK

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LUX GER FRA NLD BEL GRC DNK

Average room size (m )

140

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120

100

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Average dwelling size (m )

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Newly Built Dwellings

Context In order to ground this provocation, we must examine the context surrounding domestic space standards. A 2014 study from the University of Cambridge14 sampled 16,000 dwellings from the 2010 English Housing Survey, comparing them to average dwelling sizes from a range of comparable European countries. The study gives a thorough overview of how insufficient

appropriate space is detrimental to health and wellbeing, calling also for examinations of the externalities (such as costs to the NHS and wider civil society) that arise from this. The graphs above are reproduced from data within the report. They clearly show that Britain falls behind comparable countries in most of the spatial metrics that were

considered. Most relevant — and alarming — are the average room and dwelling sizes for new-builds. Within this, it is important to factor in the relative prevalence of city and high-density housing when comparing, for example, Britain and Denmark, but the disparity is still marked. We hence felt that an investigation into the development of British space standards was necessary.

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140

130

120

110

100

House

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Tudor Walters Report (1918)

1920

1930

Housing Manual (1949)

1940

1950

1960

Parker Morris (1961)

1970

1980

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Domestic Space Standards First formally set out in 1918 by the Tudor Walters Committee15, in acknowledgment of the slack standards of public health in housing at the time, space standards have since undergone a series of developments to bring us to the Nationally Described Space Standards that we are familiar with today.

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Space standards have been explored and prescribed by various parties over the last century, at both the scale of London and the wider country. The graph opposite shows key development points at which specific minimum area standards were set out for different dwelling types. There are many other developments in-between these points that looked at domestic spaces in London and Britain without setting explicit area standards16. For the purposes of this exercise we are concerned with area.

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Nationally Described Space Standards (2015) Nationally Described Space Standards — Preliminary (2013) London Housing SPG (2011)

The Tudor Walters report did not specify areas based on bedspaces, instead simply determining that a non-parlour house should be a minimum of 79.4m2 and a parlour house 98m2. The report also set out various qualitative guidelines and recommendations. From the publication of the 1949 'Housing Manual' to the turn of the century there were no revolutionary increases or decreases in minimum space standards. The largest shift since has been in the introduction of the London Housing Design Guide, which eventually formed the basis for 2015's Nationally Described Space Standards.

London Housing Design Guide (2010) Housing Space Standards — London, Preliminary (2006) Quality Standards (2005) Scheme Development Standards (1993)

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It has been 12 years since the London Housing Design Guide's introduction, and 7 since the Nationally Described Space Standards'. Following the recent COVID-19 pandemic, in which the spatial restrictions of our current minimum standards became all the more clear, we feel that it is time for another paradigm shift in our domestic standards.

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House An Unforeseen Shift A fundamental shift in our society since 2020 has been the proliferation and gradual normalisation of working from home — something that space standards have not yet managed to accommodate for. This shift has highlighted many ways in which our houses are unsuited to a mixed mode of living and working, with many spaces being haphazardly reappropriated and reconfigured to provide adequate space for a semi-agreeable working environment. If our current homes are uncomfortable for those working from home in desk-based jobs, then they are wholly unsuited for any other working from home situation. In fact, even jobs that are, on the surface, desk-based will often have much more complex spatial requirements and relationships than the connections between desk, chair and room. With domestic design in London and the UK not having undergone anything near what could be deemed a paradigm shift in the last few decades, perhaps the ongoing public health pandemic is the spark required to generate a much needed reconsideration of the ways in which we use our humble abodes.

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A Provocation on Area Standards Playing on the phrase 'Working from Home', we explore here a provocation in which residential space becomes treated as if it were a series of commercial office bays. Even though areas are prescribed by way of spaces being physically defined by walls, they do not restrict dwellers' ability to inhabit space as they can add or remove area from their overall dwelling size through trading this space with neighbours.

An analogous system is explored by Apparata Architects in 'A House for Artists'. The key consideration here is that Apparata have designed for a specific community of like-minded artists, who would be arguably more inclined to share spaces as shown opposite than a typical member of the population. Although our provocation is an interesting

one, and many useful parallels can be seen between the use of office space and how its residential counterpart may function in the future, we again see this as an impractical consideration for a comfortable home in London's current mass housing context. Working on such a harshly gridded system sacrifices comfort as it removes individualism. Layouts are too rigid and

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not truly accommodating. Furthermore, moving party walls may be appropriate in a single freehold property, but here we are interested in leasehold mass housing, where such an approach would be unreasonable. Finally, we do not anticipate that a system of space trading would work when designing for non-specific dwellers. The decisions of one dweller — whether to trade space or

not — would have an immediate and direct effect on the comfort of another. This does not empower a range of dwellers to find comfort on their own terms.

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House Design development sketches between V3 and V4.

V4: System of Options Here we explore an alternative challenge to the stagnation of space standards that does not require dwellers to rely on each other's comfort. In a hybrid of the three previous design phases, the 'naked house' system is reintroduced but in a gridded format. Dwellers can choose how big they want their rooms to be, and how many they would like to have, within this grid. Multiplying out the various combinations for the four flat types would effectively create a pattern book of different layouts that tenants could choose from.

The central zone of the home can also strike a finer balance between being permeable and being completely open, as determined by the inhabitants. With utilities, storage

and bathrooms still placed in this zone, we finally see this central band as having the potential for use as a functional and inhabitable room rather than just a transitional zone. Dwelling sizes started to decrease as the previously predetermined circulation spaces became much more open. This in turn also lead to a reconsideration of how to enter the home, moving away from the need to enter into an ancillary space if the dweller did not want or need this for comfort. All but one of the plan types moved to become deck access, with only the largest dwellings retaining the earlier principle of sharing a core with one other flat of the same size in a side-access pairing.

We also introduced the idea of polyvalence to the plans, as seen in several of the precedents that we researched. This was done through introducing a potential second 'front door' for the deck access flats, and two 'back doors' for the side access flat. Yet, for all of these positive developments, the dwellings again fall into the trap of an overarching spatial system that requires the addition or removal of walls in order for inhabitants to maintain comfort as their lives change. As in all previous iterations, this is impractical, uncomfortable and unsustainable.

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Spatial systems are often a distraction, providing an efficient but largely inhuman (and certainly not comfortable) 'solution' to the problems we are trying to address.

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House into Home At this point we need to remind ourselves of the purpose of housing. If housing does not work for the people that it is meant to house, then what is it for?

Any system that requires dwellers to demolish, construct or irreversibly alter built fabric is no better than the mass housing we live with today. No rules are being broken; no changes are being made. Any variation on space trading is impractical in the current housing context, especially in leasehold properties. Neither of these architectural systems provide an ease with which someone can turn a house into a home.

There must be a refocusing of our agenda from one about system and form to one about people and experience; this is the only way that we can understand how to create a comfortable home.

Home From House into Home Material Culture Objects of Ritual Museum of the Home Diverse Dwellers Proposed Dwelling Plans

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From House into Home Photographer Mark Cowper’s project 'At Home in a High-Rise', depicted here, examines self-expression, identity and the atomisation of contemporary society. His exploration into the post-personalised layouts of identically constructed flats in Ethelburga Tower, Battersea, illustrate the ways in which people turn their houses into homes. The significance of objects and possessions in every household is emphasised, with the house forming a backdrop. With inflexible spaces, such as those of a typical housing block, inhabitation with such objects is the furthest that residents can go to personalising their space. This goes some way to providing feelings of identity and comfort within the home. By themselves, objects offer reflections of the current styles and trends in society, yet an idiosyncratic gathering of these objects, specific to one person, their culture and memories, gathered over time, can give a deep insight into their ways of living and their needs and desires within a home. Objects can also enable us to form household work and rituals, as explored previously. These objects then heavily influence the spatial layout of the households that they occupy and reflect the nature, attitudes and personalities of those who reside in them. Objects and their way of arrangement in space, infrastructure and materiality embody the owner and resident. Noritaka Minami's documentation of Tokyo's 'Nakagin Capsule Tower', opposite, explores similar themes of turning house into home.

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Home Rear Window Just as Cowper and Minami's photographic studies give us a lens into people's lives through their framing objects within the home, Alfred Hitchcock's 1954 classic, 'Rear Window', gives an intimate insight into the lives of a series of characters. While we are drawn to focus on the figures that the film documents and the relationships between them, their day-to-day actions are dictated by the objects they surround themselves with and the interactions between these.

A material culture is now intrinsic to our society. We use our possessions to mould our personas, using them as forms to which we can attach aspects of our psyche that we might otherwise risk becoming detached from.

Material World: A Global Family Portrait Peter Menzel here identifies the embodiment of families and their homes through the possessions and objects stored within them. His studies into a 'Material World' start to identify a very materialistic stance on the identification of a space as a home, whilst also highlighting socioeconomic factors that are at play throughout global domestic life.

Huang Qingjun — Family Stuff Much like Menzel’s work, Qingjun also focuses on the material personalities of families, extracting their home as objects separate from the constraints of a house.

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"We depend on our surroundings obliquely to embody the moods and ideas we respect and then to remind us of them. We look to our buildings to hold us, like a kind of psychological mould, to a URY]SbY cV`V\[ \S \b_`RYcR` DR arrange around us material forms which communicate to us what we need – but are at constant risk of forgetting we need – within."18

Menno Aden - Room Portraits Aden’s studies of the ‘compressed personality’ further emphasise the influence of personal belongings on the act of dwelling.

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Home Materialistic Space We have previously explored how the spaces of the home are dependent on the activities that take place within them. Further to this, upon examining the role of the object within the home, we see that the material culture that we have become so accustomed to is what defines these very activities. Our domestic interactions are all centred around the objects of the home; objects of ritual. If we are not able to comfortably locate these objects within our homes, then we cannot comfortably carry out our rituals.

This is a key aspect that must be addressed in our design. In setting a stage for inhabitation, we must acknowledge the need for the day-to-day flexibility of space. The spatial systems that we have explored up until this point do not yet achieve this.

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Home Image of a medium size 'V3' flat, as shown at the Workshop.

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if they were constrained by this spatial system.

Usage-neutral Space Outdoor Terrace

By increasing its permeability throughout the various phases of design development, we have made some headway towards comfortably accommodating people's objects, rituals and routines in other spaces of the home with a certain level of equality, flexibility and choice. Entirely removing the notion of a superfurniture structure can help us begin to challenge gender roles within the home, which are typically perpetuated by these divisions of space19.

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Superfurniture Our original proposed grouping of services, storage, utilities, and (occasionally) circulation has persisted throughout much of the project. In itself, this superfurniture is a spatial system. Our intention, alongside maximising the flexibility of the space on either side of it, was for it to act as a backdrop to the theatrics of life. Shelving, alcoves, nooks and crannies could play host to people's objects and possessions. It would become the focal point of the home, the main stage for inhabitation. This, in itself, is prescriptive. It is unlikely that we would enable a breadth of users to attain comfort

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Home Museum of the Home Visiting the Museum of the Home, we continued to develop our understanding of the endless varieties of dweller who might choose to make the houses that we design their home, and the ways in which we might empower them to find comfort.

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The narratives within the museum reinforced the importance of personal objects and possessions in the home, just as we had found from our initial interviews and subsequent research. We were also intensely interested by the ways in which our homes can reproduce normative gender roles and reproductive labour processes as described within the museum — perpetuations that we seek to challenge.

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Understanding Perceptions of Gender The gender roles that we perceive today became more concrete within modern society through the Victorian and Edwardian periods, but our contemporary built fabric is what maintains them. The Museum of the Home showed examples of historic kitchens being used for running family businesses, but this is still a commonplace activity within homes today — and in the same spaces.

We look for our proposed homes to challenge normative gender roles within a domestic environment, pushing the architecture to align with the societal progress that has been made in recent decades. As expressed by EDIT Collective: "Although gender politics have undoubtedly progressed since the attitudes of the 50s, has our unchanged approach to domestic design limited our progress?"21

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Home A Range of Experiences On display in the museum were a wealth of accounts, both historic and contemporary, on British domesticity, with a strong focus on London. Stories of family gatherings and shared experiences were a commonality across multiple cultures and backgrounds, with particular events and traditions being strongly rooted — again around rituals and the objects that dictate them. Stories of single occupants continually moving across London, devoid of a sense of belonging, formed parallels with shared houses made up of strangers, evoking a sense of loneliness and division. Yet, some anecdotes about transience were positive, linking back to our Matrix of Comfort. Especially within these accounts, the topic of religion was very prevalent. The home can become a centre for personal faith. Whether it be a literal base for religious practice and reflection, or merely symbolic of faith, the home plays a crucial role in the ongoing practice of all religions.

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Impostor Syndrome By our definitions of comfort to this point, an uncomfortable home would be one that did not meet our manifesto points: — Long Life, Loose Fit: Dual Aspect; Adaptable Spaces Home

— Identity and Belonging: A Stage for Inhabitation; A Positive Community The first theme is a spatial principle that relates directly to the architecture of the house. We have hypothesised that this house is the stage on which home comes to exist; the second principle of identity and belonging is experiential.

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Discomfort within the home arises when people do not feel at ease. This may be because they are too hot or cold, but can also be because they do not feel at home. Dwellers are liable to feel like impostors within their own home if they are unable to form it to suit their individual lifestyles and accommodate cultural familiarities. This point was raised by our focus group and heavily emphasised throughout our visit to the Museum of the Home. As designers, we have ourselves been conditioned to fit the mould of the nuclear family. These preconceptions carry through into our designs. In order to cater to London's diverse range of cultures, we must understand how they would ideally live.

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Turkey Turkish homes traditionally contain a large hall that houses a sofa. There are various layout types for this, but the most common within colder regions of Turkey is the central sofa. This space is a clear priority within the Turkish home. External amenity space is also important, and often paired with the kitchen space.

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Nigeria A particular peculiarity of Nigerian homes is that they contain two living spaces. One of these will be more public — akin to a reception room — and the other more private. The kitchen is a space that has a lower priority within the Nigerian household. Depicted here is a fairly westernised home within an urbanised context. We felt it necessary to examine the ideal homes of different cultures, as these are the spaces in which the true conditions of domestic comfort are embodied.

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France As highlighted previously, much of France's housing stock plays on the rather grandiose idea of enfilades within the home. Even within more modern dwellings there are spatial remnants of the Bourgeois. Circulation often takes precedence over other spaces; there is a clear division between public and private space.

Morocco Moroccan homes are also highly compartmentalised, but typically arranged around a courtyard rather than along a corridor. This approach is primarily taken as a result of climatic constraints. Evaporation pools are often located within the courtyards to cool the space. External amenity, such as a series of private terraces with differing conditions, are also important.

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India Indian homes are traditionally organised around a courtyard in a highly gridded system. Similarly to Japanese houses, these are proportionally related to each other and maintain a certain hierarchy of space, allowing for a spatial progression throughout the dwelling. Rooms do have specific functions prescribed, based on their locations within the home.

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Japan The spaces within Japanese homes have specific relationships to each other. Often rooms are named not for their function, but for their relationship to other spaces — the large room, the smaller room to the left of the large room, and so on. The spaces are also proportionally related through the use of Tatami mats as flooring. It is quite common for these houses to have multiple entrances. Reading an unlabelled Japanese floor plan, it can be hard to imagine which room does what. As a consequence, it can be easy to imagine multiple rooms hosting multiple activities.

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A Comfortable Home From this further research into how the houses we design may be turned into homes, we reconsidered how our plan layouts might bring comfort to this act of inhabitation.

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Through the development of the design to this point, we realised that people seek flexible space, rather than a flexible system. We should be providing something that allows them to easily change their living arrangements without having to erect, demolish or irreversibly alter built fabric. This is how we can empower them to attain and maintain comfort in an appropriate and sustainable manner, providing long life, loose fit homes that can support them into the future.

We decided to break away from the rigidity of previous iterations, instead considering how people might enter the home and how they might flow from room to room. Should entrances be in the centre of the home or from one of the façades? Should dwellers enter directly into a room, or is a hallway more appropriate? Is there the potential to give dwellers a choice?

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Home V5: 'System' of Spaces We began thinking about the spaces within the home as a continuous stage for inhabitation. Rooms of a predetermined area could be connected or detached to increase or decrease the effective area of these spaces. This would not be done through demolishing or erecting built fabric, but rather through a series of thresholds that dwellers could adapt in order to make or remove these connections.

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Large double doors are introduced to each room. When closed, these simply act as a wall or single door if desired; when open they provide a generous link to adjacent rooms. This enables dwellers to achieve comfort not only through the flexibility of spaces in isolation (due to the comfortable sizes and proportions of individual rooms) but also through their combination as a collective entity.

The kitchen and bathroom are still situated within a central zone, maximising the daylight to spaces on either side, but a key development is that this zone now also hosts a space that is truly inhabitable in its own right. We envisage this space as being the primary zone for storage within the home, taking the positive qualities of our previous 'superfurniture' but leaving behind its spatial baggage. Ultimately, the use of this space is up to the eventual inhabitants. We also developed our thinking about how one might enter the home. Rather than simply entering into a room, we understood that there needed to be a small buffer in place. This would act in a similar way to vestibules seen in previous iterations, but without forcing the division of spaces. It is again up to the dweller how they choose to negotiate this entrance condition.

Opposite: The five major phases of plan development (V1—V5). To scale at 1:400.

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A Stage for Inhabitation Bernard Ghobert's pencil drawings present domestic spaces with a disctinct lack of human activity. They are relatively blank canvases. There may be hints towards how spaces might be connected and inhabited, but there are no prescriptions of function. It is up to the inhabitant to determine how these spaces could be used. When a resident moves into one of our proposed flats, the only rooms with fixed elements are the kitchen and bathroom. On the surface this is not all that different to a normal unfurnished flat; but rather than sizing the other habitable spaces with a single function in mind (as is the case in most mass housing) we have designed the flats in a way that truly gives dwellers choice over how to inhabit their home.

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Proposed Dwelling Plans Our final plans strike a balance between specificity and non-specificity — between comfort and adaptability. Through the removal of programmatic prescription, the provision of varying room sizes, and polyvalent relationships between these rooms, we create plan types that truly act as stages for inhabitation, able to host a range of cultures and lifestyles.

or detach each of these spaces, all based around a comfortable average size, means that the resultant areas of the rooms within the flats are also effectively unprescribed. This polyvalency is what gives the homes flexibility across a range of temporal scales, allowing each one to act as a stage for inhabitation and become a comfortable home for a breadth of dwellers.

We have reconsidered the sizing of spaces so that they are much more responsive to inhabitants and much less restricted by a gridded system. Ceiling heights are set at a generous 2.7m. As with previous iterations, the domestic program is not predetermined, allowing residents to choose how to use each space. Additionally, the ability to connect

The dwellings have also been designed to comply with Part M4(2): Accessible and adaptable dwellings. The key headlines from this are that they "meet the needs of occupants with differing needs, including some older or disabled people; and allow adaptation of the dwelling to meet the changing needs of occupants over time."22

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Home Testing Inhabitation Based on conversations with our focus group, we have tested a wealth of layouts for the proposed flat types. These tests explore various furniture arrangements, attempting to reveal ways in which the dwellings may be uncomfortable for residents. A medium flat was the most comfortable size for most of the members of the focus group, so much of our testing was done on this type. The testing shows the plurality of ways in which the homes can be inhabited, with the architecture acting as a stage for this inhabitation. While some of the layouts may appear irrational or abnormal to the reader, this is precisely the point. Humans are not rational, or 'normal'. We are so used to the normative rooms of a British home that even arrangements of fairly typical furniture can appear unusual if arranged differently to how we might do so. This is particularly true for spatially trained professionals. Following is an analysis that covers how the dwellings have been designed to comfortably accommodate a range of dwellers.

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Analysis been struck between equal proximity to utilities, entrances and outdoor spaces, and the probable uses of spaces based on our studies, research and design development. 2. Flexibility of Furniture The move towards unprescribed rooms means each room is more universal than in a typical dwelling. In being able to accommodate a range of functions and activities, spaces can also host a variety of layouts of the same set of furniture.

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The Value of the Unprescribed Throughout the design process we have looked to move away from the provision of spaces which are defined by a predetermined usage or function. Instead, we provide a series of spaces which focus much more on their relationships with each other, the spaces immediately outside the dwelling, and the movements and lines of sight through these interrelated spaces. The non-prescription of spaces directly responds to the need for flexibility within the home. This flexibility comes in two forms: 1. Flexibility of Use This emphasises the fact that most rooms, regardless of placement in the proposed dwellings, can each be used for the majority of activities that take place. They are also able to incorporate other activities if needed through their combination. A balance has

The proposed spaces do differ in size. This is partly as a result of area guidelines and the need for spatial efficiency and a constructional logic (and not one that leads to an inhumanly gridded system at different sizes of dwelling) but mainly as a result of the need for a progression and hierarchy of volumes within a comfortable home.

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Due to this mirroring, plumbing has been boxed out on both sides of the dwellings, as shown by the solid red blocks. The provision of services on both party walls unlocks the ability for a degree of long-term adaptability in relation to the kitchen. While we have shown the kitchen located by the front door, residents may decide that this is not the most comfortable arrangement for them. Residents have the ability, if they wish, to move the kitchen to two other spaces based on their preference. These alternative kitchen positions have been shown faintly opposite.

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Fixed Utilities, Flexible Fittings Within the homes, we have maintained the earlier design tool of placing utilities that are impractical to move, storage and pure circulation in a band at the centre of the plans. Fixing these elements provides a level of practicality for dwellers and maximises the flexibility of the spaces on either side. Habitable spaces take priority when it comes to daylight and fresh air, with the compromise being accepted that the bathroom is the room in which it is least necessary to have a window. The impact on comfort of removing a window from a bathroom is much less than it would be for any other space. The flat plans are mirrored on alternate floors across the mirror line shown dashed opposite. This is to increase daylight into the plans, staggering the private terraces across the façade.

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Thresholds — Door as Wall Flexibility within the homes is facilitated in part by dwellers' ability to connect or detach spaces. This has an impact on both day-today and longer term adaptation. Large full-height double doors and pocket walls are employed, these thresholds allowing the connection or detachment of rooms in multiple scenarios throughout the dwellings. These fairly atypical opening types are highlighted in red opposite.

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The hinged double doors act as walls when closed or unused. A minimal, flush frame paired with inset handles and the full height aspect allow the doors to be viewed as a continuation of the wall when closed. This perception would be furthered by the simple positioning of furniture in front of these closed openings, as shown here. Thresholds are a key aspect of comfort within the proposed dwellings. To the rear of the homes, bifolding windows with a low cill are employed to connect indoors to outdoors as if it were another space within the dwelling. This gives inhabitants a minimum of three relationships to their external private amenity: they can situate themselves internally with a visual and physical connection to the outdoors; they can sit outside with a connection back in; or they can occupy the threshold between indoors and outdoors by inhabiting the cill. We envision that this low cill will become a playful element of the home for children, or a restful seating element for those that want to experience the fresh air of the outdoors while still feeling that they are sheltered within their home.

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Commutable Space In order to begin to examine the potential inhabitation of a typical plan, we start by identifying the provision and sizes of spaces within the homes.

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We found that by providing 2 of the largest rooms required (as per the London Housing Design Guide) at the front and rear of the flats, it immediately allows for flexibility of uses and configuration of the home to take place. These spaces are highlighted in red.

In this instance, the living room can also be accommodated centrally. Having the ability to situate the same room in different places within the flat, towards or away from two façades with varying environmental conditions, provides not only functional resilience but also climate resilience.

For the medium flat shown opposite, the largest room required is based on the living room. We have sized this slightly above the minimum standard to allow for more storage, a point continuously raised throughout research and our interviews.

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Permutable Space As well as being able to situate the same layout in different rooms, dwellers should also be able to position different layouts in the same room. As the living room is always the largest space as prescribed by the LHDG, any space that can accommodate a living room can also accommodate a double bedroom, a play space, an office, yoga studio, prayer room, workshop etc. We have looked to create plans that enable this potential as much as possible, balancing the potentials for combination, or separation, of spaces where the dweller may require or desire these. Here we see three spaces forming an example of a ‘living space’ in the home. The large, full height double doors between the spaces means they can be 'open plan' or closed off more traditionally.

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Permutable Space This layout imagines a living space that runs through the depth of the dwelling. This would make best use of the effective cross-ventilation that dual aspect through flats enable.

We found that the most appropriate space to put by this primary entrance was the kitchen. Locating the kitchen elsewhere would result in residents having to enter into either a bedroom or a living space, both more private than the kitchen. This positioning also allows the kitchen to act as the pivot point illustrated here.

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This layout and the previously shown arrangement highlight the kitchen as a pivot point in the proposed dwellings. By placing the kitchen at the front of the home, and identifying it as the primary entrance space, we create an anchor point around which multiple layouts of domesticity can be formed. Primarily, we wanted to create a hall-like space as you enter the home; a space in which coats and shoes could be kept. Modern homes' lack of space for this was highlighted in our research23. We also found through our research that entering directly into a room can often be

uncomfortable — an intrusion. This small but crucial space acts as a buffer before entering the main spaces of the home.

The kitchen also maintains a continuous visual connection to the front door and beyond, strengthening a sense of community through facilitating small visual encounters with neighbours passing by. It also provides a sense of security in enabling a degree of passive surveillance.

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Permutable Space This third arrangement sees a living space that is slightly fragmented. This may be more comfortable for the residents of this dwelling; the emphasis is that spaces are interchangeable within the home. Home 139

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A matrix of connected rooms is “an architecture that recognizes passion, carnality and sociality”26 — but these might not be the desires of all types of dweller that we are aiming to accommodate. Therefore, as with other aspects of the home, we are enabling dwellers to adapt their lived spaces in order to empower their lifestyles and find comfort on their own terms.

By simply adding a corridor bridging between the two sides of the dwelling, we enable people to pass through the space without needing to pass through every room. This, combined with the inclusion of two ‘front doors', enables the home to strike a balance between its private and semi-private spaces (semi-private spaces referring to those which would typically host guests). Again, this is an example of polyvalence permeating the spatial design of the dwellings — giving residents choice.

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Ratios of Privacy Unlike the plans of Raphael and Palladio, or the principles of Alberti as outlined by Evans24, we facilitate an optional level of privacy that means dwellers are not “obliged to pass through a matrix of connecting rooms where the day-to-day business of life [is] carried on.”25 However, we do not take Robert Kerr’s alternative extreme in which every room is terminal. Instead, there is a balance of the terminal and the thoroughfare, with each of these room types offering a further luxury of choice for a dweller to fix open, closed, or leave somewhere between the two as they please.

This corridor, applied in tandem with a closure of the double doors down the centre of the home as shown opposite, gives an example of how residents may separate the two left-hand rooms from the rest of the home.

We hence maintain the possibility for the homes to prioritise privacy when required.

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Ratios of Privacy Another option examines a condition often seen in Nigerian homes. Here the living spaces are split into two (one being more private than the other) and the kitchen is completely separated from the rest of the home. Home

This specific arrangement of spaces was mentioned within the interviews that we conducted with our focus group. The interviewee's current home did not facilitate this arrangement of space; our proposed dwellings empower this lifestyle.

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Movement The principal flows through the proposed dwellings focus on two ‘channels’, as seen opposite. These start and end at the thresholds into the homes and onto the private terraces. These connecting flows work to exaggerate the outdoor spaces of the home — the decks and terraces — as expansions of the home rather than bolt-on additions (though this is likely how they would be constructed). The inclusion of a corridor within the dwellings introduces another layer of spatial polyvalence: a deliberate circumvention of rooms should residents require this in order to be comfortable. Home

In terms of the placement of furniture within rooms and movement around it, an apparent compromise has to be made in order to allow for the comfortable and appropriate combination of spaces with our proposed thresholds. Placing these doors centrally on walls reduces the extent of fixed partition on either side, reducing the physical and visual intrusion of these walls into spaces when they are connected. This emphasises the ability for two (or more) spaces to feel like one when the thresholds between them are open. A byproduct is that circulation in many rooms flows from the centre of a wall, rather than a perhaps more conventional corner or edge. However, through layout testing during the development of the design, we have determined that this would not cause any overt issues with furniture layouts in terms of flexibility and comfort.

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Lines of Sight Due to the nature of the flexible thresholds we are proposing, there are a multitude of sightlines throughout the dwellings.

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Intrinsically linked to patterns of movement, these lines of sight generally coalesce into the two ‘channels’ that flow from front to back of house. In use, these may not necessarily exist simultaneously as there will be differing levels of privacy and enclosure between the two zones. The ‘channels’ have the potential to act as a tool for progression through the homes, inviting occupants to travel further through the spaces; they create enfilades within the home, reminiscent of a Bourgeois plan typically found in Barcelona or Paris. These enfilades can be seen to enrich the act of dwelling, providing lighter, fresher and more comfortable spaces. The same is true in traversing spaces across these channels, albeit on a more modest scale. Openings on the façades look to strengthen the relationship between dwellings and the immediate outdoors. Lines of sight have the potential to connect out to both shared and private amenity spaces from every room.

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Gendered Space As highlighted in the analysis of our Matrix of Comfort, space within the home is inherently gendered as a product of the patriarchal systems that construct it. While the ideologies surrounding gender roles within the home have evolved in recent decades, this is not yet an architectural discussion: it relates to 'home' not 'house'.

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The stagnation of space standards and the prescription of rooms functions within today's mass housing bring forth a predictability to these spaces, as highlighted in EDIT's 'Still No Progress'27. This perpetuates patriarchal control over domestic space. Klein illustrates this in his 'Functional House for Frictionless Living', left, segregating dwellers through space. Our proposals look to deconstruct normative spaces within domestic design, as explained to this point, and introduce a level of unpredictability in the process. Whimsically, any room could be a bedroom, or (as shown overleaf) any room could be a non-bedroom. The intention here is to tackle the proliferation of domestic power structures through an unpredictability of spatial arrangement; it is less likely within our proposal that a guest could predict the function of every room than in a typical London flat. Our layouts do not “publicize the split between genders”28 but rather broadcast the ability to connect or disconnect any series of ungendered and unpredictable spaces with polyvalence.

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Gendered Space Through removing the confinement of prescriptively layered space, we are empowering all genders through their choice and ability to adapt their domestic environment. We are aiming to provide equality of control to gendered and nongendered alike.

Feedback we have received in discourse with EDIT has praised the spatial arrangements of our proposed dwellings, highlighting in particular the removal of prescribed room functions and the lack of reliance on the corridor — a space that is often "a tool for division and reinforcement of normative behaviours."

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This approach also provides a dweller with the choice to privatise or publicise sexuality at various levels, depending on the connections that they choose to make between spaces within their home. In engaging with these topics — those blatantly omitted from reports such as the RIBA's 'The way we live now' — we are interfacing with those individuals

and collectives who are the future of the architectural profession. Literature reviews are absolutely relevant investigations into how people live, but for our proposals to be relevant beyond the bounds of a Design Think Tank we must engage with others who are aligned in topics, objectives and perspectives to our progressive views.

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Anna's Puigjaner's writing30 on 'Kitchenless Cities' and explorations into the 'Diffuse House' (one in which domesticity has a partial but incomplete overlap with the home) help to contextualise this approach. Again, giving dwellers the choice to share these rituals is what can bring comfort. In the scenario shown opposite, we consider a pair of neighbouring homes coming to act as one. Party walls are knocked through and full-height double doors are installed to act as flexible thresholds. We can imagine this scenario taking place for a variety of

reasons, such as: — Extended family moving in together — Friends exploring the possibilities of commodifying living and work spaces (drawn) — Elderly residents utilising the positive aspects of communal living Within all of these scenarios we see a maintained flexibility of space, facilitated by the spatial arrangements of our proposed plans. Privacy where wanted, communal function where wanted; neither being detrimental to the other.

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Commodifying Domesticity Within the home, flexibility of spatial forms and uses are prioritised. Furthering this, we can examine the potential for both these spaces and the processes of domesticity practiced within them to be shared across different residents. This commodification can emancipate dwellers from the restrictions of reproductive labour within the home, ultimately bringing comfort if dwellers are so inclined.

This longer term adaptability, as seen previously in residents' ability to move the location of the kitchen, can go some way to supporting the needs of an aging population. As intergenerational living becomes more normalised, the need to expand, contract and adapt dwellings within mass housing on an appropriate scale will soon become an inevitability.

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Seen over the next 3 examples, we examine this largest layout and how with different combinations of rooms we can facilitate a range of different work modes and businesses within the home. With living and working in London becoming more expensive and the recent pandemic shifting attitudes towards working from home, it seemed vital that our designs could accommodate this. Current flats in London do not comfortably enable many people to work from home. Even if the work is

purely desk-based, there are often spatial restrictions that impact comfort (such as the desk being shoved into a kitchen or bedroom as the only 'free' space within the dwelling). In the scenario imagined opposite, a physiotherapist uses one 'room' within their home to house their business. They are still able to have both a front and back door to their dwelling. Clients would access the physiotherapy room via the circulation core that sits between the pair of Extra Large flats.

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Flexible Modes of Business A key element of all homes having at least two front doors is the potential for the introduction of businesses into each dwelling. We see that the integration of a service-based business would be most likely within the Extra Large flats, as shown opposite.

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Flexible Modes of Business This scenario imagines a dressmaker running their business from home. They are able to receive clients in the upper left room, store materials in the central room, and spread their workshop across the central and upper rooms. This arrangement also creates an interesting relationship between domestic and commerical; the more 'private' business rooms could also still host a range of domestic activities.

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Arrangements such as these will naturally cut down on the number of habitable rooms remaining within the dwelling. This is yet another reason not to market homes based on the number of bedrooms but rather on area — dwellers should be able to use their home as they please, whether domestic or commercial.

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Flexible Modes of Business Finally, we imagine an arrangement in which a hairdresser's salon is set up along one of the façades of the dwelling. Here it is possible to also use the 'back door' of the flat to access the salon. This door links to the shared deck that is used to access the three other proposed flat sizes.

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A Comfortable Home A messy student, temporarily back in her family home as COVID-24 has shut her university down for the term. She shares a bedroom with her younger brother, who feels much more comfortable with her around. They don't need the bedroom to have a double door; her desk sits in front of the leaf that was already locked in place. The North London Derby is on TV later.

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A Comfortable Home An older couple with a spare bedroom for when family come to stay. Today they're hosting their neighbours for Sunday Lunch. The kitchen is closed off to politely hide the mess within. The dining room opens onto their bright and spacious terrace, the most treasured space within their home. They will make the most of it this afternoon, relaxing with a shandy in the sun.

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A Comfortable Home A young family with two young children. Their living space runs the entire depth of the home, meaning they can see their neighbours and their children passing by on their way back from prayer. The front door is often left open; they feel secure enough within their neighbourhood to let go of a bit of privacy within their home. The cool draft is also welcome on such a warm day.

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A Comfortable Home A nurse who works night shifts and rents his other bedroom out to a lodger. He wants his bedroom to be as dark as possible so he can sleep during the day. The kitchen is closed off to minimise noise and smells while his lodger is up and active. The nurse has a separate living room that connects directly to the terrace, just as the lodger's bedroom does.

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A Comfortable Home A dress maker who wants her studio in the most private part of the home, tucked away from the other spaces to hide the busy clutter. The direct access to outdoor space is very welcome. Having the ability to run her business from home makes it much more financially comfortable for her to fabricate sari and dhoti for her neighbours than if she needed to find a separate office space.

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Neighbourhood as Home DUfh cZ U ˠc`Y Rotherhithe: Context & Character Terraces, Porches, Decks Cores The Block Courtyard Roof Home

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“If the city is like some large house, and the house is in turn like some small city, cannot aUR cN_V\b` ]N_a` \S aUR U\b`R ... be considered miniature ObVYQV[T`,{ — Leon Battista Alberti 31

Part of a Whole

Small, Large, Aggregate Just as Peter Trummer32 (above) reinterprets Alberti's quote on houses and cities, we see a similar nesting of relationships within our project. These are between our individual dwellings, the collective urban block that they will form, the wider city that this block sits in, and the network of global cities in which this particular city finds itself located. There is therefore a nesting of design principles that can be extrapolated across these relationships in order to provide a holistically comfortable home, neighbourhood, and city.

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In this chapter we examine how we might go about designing the shared spaces of the urban block, referring to it here as our neighbourhood. Our individual

dwellings can form a relationship to their neighbours and neighbourhood in the same way that the rooms within these dwellings might, or the aggregated building within the city. Just as rooms extend into private outdoor spaces, the essence of home pervades an entire neighbourhood. We therefore understand the neighbourhood as an extension of the home, and neighbourliness as an extension of the domesticity that occurs within the individual dwellings. We are looking to provide moments of domestic bliss in the outdoors. The same principles that have been applied to the 4 sizes of proposed flat are carried through to the shared spaces that connect

them, the aim being to foster a positive community that enables residents to feel secure and comfortable in these less private spaces. Just as a balance is struck indoors between specificity and non-specificity, outdoors there must be harmony between inclusivity and anonymity within the city. The neighbourhood "is not somewhere you merely pass through going to and from home but is the environment and community within which adults meet and slowly bond and where children play, grow up and are socialised."33 Residents within the building that we propose must be able to extend their feelings of identity and ownership out from their individual dwellings and into the wider neighbourhood and, ultimately, the city and the world.

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Site A plot in the emerging Canada Water Masterplan has been selected as a test bed for our design principles. The site is situated at the southernmost corner of the masterplan, at a busy intersection between Southwark Park and Greenland Dock. This is the threshold between

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old and new, and a convergence of key public routes. The masterplan parameters highlight the new space opposite Surrey Quays Station (southwest of our site) as an important public space. This lies on ‘Park Walk’, a south-north route that connects Southwark Park to Russia Dock

Woodland. The site has a PTAL rating of 6a, rendering it as the most connected an area can be within London. There is a fairly significant level change of 3m between the south and north of our test site, which must be mediated. 175

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Rotherhithe in London Within the Greater London Area, Rotherhithe is located in southeast London, specifically in Southwark, bordering Bermondsey and across the river from Limehouse and the Isle of Dogs.

Rotherhithe in Zone 2 Rotherhithe is often described as a ‘residential district,’ an unusual labelling for an area within Zone 2, but fitting for an area that we perceive as quiet, calm, and bordering on sleepy. Nevertheless, the district boasts three stations: Rotherhithe, Canada Water and Surrey Quays.

The Neighbourhood as Home Rotherhithe as a Residential Area Formerly an area dedicated to docklands, Rotherhithe was redeveloped in the 1980s to fit with the 1973 Essex Design Guide for Residential Areas. High rise 21st century accommodation notwithstanding, the guide has informed the majority of homes in Rotherhithe; restricting them to no more than three storeys, mandatory spaces for cars to park and pavements lining the course of double-laned roads. This model attempted to deliver American suburban ideals in a British context.

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1. The Brunel Museum Engine House 2. The Tunnel 3. St Mary’s Church 4. St. Mary’s Free School 5. St Olav’s Free School 6. The Finnish Church 7. Swedish Seamen’s Mission 8. Grice’s Granary Warehouse

9. East India Wharf 10. Surrey Lock 11. Greenland Dock Lock 12. London Hydraulic Pumping Station 13. Globe Wharf 14. Former Dock Offices 15. Scherzer Bascule Bridge 16. Dockers’ Shelter

17. St Mary’s Rotherhithe Conservation Area 18. Edward III’s Rotherhithe 19. Rotherhithe Station 20. Canada Water Station 21. Surrey Quays Station 22. Wapping Station

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Conservation Areas & Listed Buildings Rotherhithe’s rich history can be seen today in the various listed buildings and conservation areas dotted around the district. As seen in the map opposite, the masterplan is not intrusive on the conservation sites and listed buildings in the area. The historic Rotherhithe industrial past is prominent on site and will not be tampered with as part of the housing scheme to be proposed.

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The ‘Nautical Vernacular’ It is important to note elements of Rotherhithe’s unique vernacular style. Though on the surface the area presents itself as nothing more that a collection of 80s and 90s housing developments all formed from the same pale or red brick, there are interesting hints towards a somewhat nautical style. Large, uniform pitches, circular windows and once colourful (now faded) metal framework all work together to give an ‘adjacent to the Thames’ style. This style in particular will form a key role in the creation of a space familiar to Rotherhithe. We imagine that, wherever our design principles are applied, they will take on the architectural impression given off by their surroundings. An approach that roots the proposed architecture very much within its context can only contribute to a sense of comfort of place and homeliness. This can also provide a further identity and character to the building with which residents and visitors can become familiar.

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Terraces A generosity of private outdoor space will be standard throughout our flats, not least due to the pandemic’s revelations surrounding wellbeing, but also as a buffer for future climate resilience. We see the terraces as extensions of the home, rather than additions. A series of differently sized openings onto the terraces enables a relationship to be formed between the rooms at the rear of the homes and this outdoor space. Terraces are paired, as shown opposite, with a large, angled divider between them. This form is derived from the nautical vernacular seen throughout Rotherhithe, with slanted walls a common occurrence. The lower part of the divider and a circular opening within it look to encourage human interactions between the two terrace spaces whilst maintaining privacy when needed.

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The divider can be decorated in similar ways to any wall within the home. The residents' ability to personalise these forms again allows them to attain a sense of ownership over and identity within the spaces that they define, even when these are external to the physical confines of the dwelling. On the street-facing and noisier sides of the building (shown opposite) planters will line the outer edges of the balustrades up to 800mm, to provide privacy and acoustic shielding, with 300mm of spindles on top to permit views out even when seated.

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Porches Moving out of the individual dwelling and into the neighbourhood, the geometry of the front door façades is cranked to create shared porches between pairs of neighbours. This exterior recess is inhabitable in the same way as the private spaces of an individual dwelling, acting as an extension of the home, but shared with a different neighbour to that with which their terrace is paired. Multiplying the close connections that each dwelling may form with its neighbours gently encourages more integrated connections amongst the neighbourhood. This is one of the first steps outside of the dwelling that can sow the seed of fostering a positive community. The angling of the entrance doors softens the geometry of the communal spaces directly outside them. The doors interact with the porch and the deck access simultaneously, neither elevating one nor denigrating the other. The intention is that this might lead to the deck circulation being inhabited to the same extent as the more shielded porches and terraces, furthering the dwellers' sense of identity, ownership and security.

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Decks For tight-knit communities to form, residents must feel ownership over the spaces that they share with their neighbours. This is fairly straightforward with the aforementioned terraces and decks, which are paired with a neighbour's, but more challenging with a deck that might be shared with many other residents. As noted by Oscar Newman when visiting Pruitt Igoe, and recounted by Eric Klinenberg in 'Palaces for the People', more intimate spaces shared between two families were "clean, safe, and well-tended."34 To contrast this, the larger shared spaces "evoked no feelings of identity or control [and] ... made it impossible for even neighboring residents to develop an accord about acceptable behaviour."35

We are looking to combat the anonymity and palpable hostility of deck access schemes that serve very large numbers of flats, such as Pruitt Igoe or Robin Hood Gardens, by placing a reasonable limit on the number of flats served by each branch of deck. Rather than working to a metric of units per core, we have instead devised a system of 'people per core', to provide an equality to the shared spaces across the building while enabling a mixing of dwelling sizes. For this reason, the 3 smaller flat types (S, M, L) are deck access, while the largest (XL) come in pairs, mirrored around a shared external stair and lift core. Our view is that, were the XL flats to be deck access, the decks would immediately

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serve too many people for residents to feel ownership over their communal spaces (unless there was a deck for each XL flat and each deck only served 2 XL flats). The XL cores effectively do this, but the 'deck' instead appears in the form of a shared porch for this pair of dwellings; a space over which they have direct spatial ownership. We recommend that each of these cores serves up to 12 people (6 per flat), hence each branch of deck should serve the same. Of course, this does not account for the probability that some dwellings will house more residents than we have recommended, but it is unlikely that this occupation will be significantly over what we might reasonably expect.

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Cores

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Location, Location, Location The different core types for the different flat sizes means that they lend themselves to different conditions within the block. XL flats effectively act as bookends to deck access blocks; their 'back doors' are at the end of each run of deck. Initial attempts at locating and sizing cores saw them placed in the corners of the perimeter block (a form that we opted for due to its integration with the site and facilitation of a generous communal courtyard). These initial corner cores were oversized.

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Front door to Core Relationship:

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Bevin Court Berthold Lubetkin

Sivill House Berthold Lubetkin

Table Top Apartments Kwong Von Glinow

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Core to Communal Space Relationship:

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Relationships Examining precedents, it is clear that creating accessible links between the cores and the internal communal spaces offers many benefits. Residents can have a sheltered and isolated area that creates personalised core attachments, creating clusters of tight-knit relationships within the wider neighbourhood. This allows dwellers

to display their identities and diversity within a comfortable and familiar setting. The use of public spaces varies according to the time of day and day of the week; these communal spaces will benefit from the asynchronous rhythms of the dwellers, creating safe areas for all ages to occupy.

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Proposed Cores

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Stairwell route

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Ground Floor The proposed cores are designed to act as an extension of the residents' domestic environment. Opposite are 4 cores as they appear at ground floor: 3 for the deck access flats, and one of the 2 lifts for the XL flat pairs that are accessible from street level. The stair core for these flats begins at first floor (podium) level, encouraging all residents to first pass through the communal courtyard that we have created. Above are a trio of diagrams showing the ways in which people may circulate through these cores at ground floor.

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Upper Floors Within the upper levels of the cores, we have created communal spaces on every other floor to encourage residents to interact with each other, and not isolate floor levels. These continue the domestic rituals and interactions of the home into the shared neighbourhood. They are also personalisable — here residents have installed red tiles to identify the space as within their collective ownership. Much like the flats, the back of the core opens up to extend out onto the adjacent decking, once again forming a strong relationship between inside and out. The lifts in the core are positioned so that residents have a direct view into the courtyard when waiting for them. All three deck access cores have circulation that flows through the middle of them — through the double-height communal space, or along the walkway above it — meaning that there is never a completely hidden and potentially anti-social space. Even the cores are dual aspect!

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Core Rituals Rather than directly mimicking a space within the home, the shared spaces within the cores are instead largely symbolic of the domesticity that we associate with the individual dwelling. They can accommodate many of the same activities and routines that we find within the home, enabling an extension of the idea of commodification of domestic labour, but also act as stages that can host a range of other rituals. We imagine that skills workshops could take place here between neighbours. Perhaps the dressmaker that we briefly met earlier could bring some of her consultations out into the space on a sunny day. As with the spaces in the homes, these areas will be whatever residents choose for them to be. The most we can do is design spaces that facilitate safe, secure, friendly, and comfortable interaction.

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The Block Formation of a Building The private terraces within the block always face south, as this is the most comfortable condition for private outdoor amenity, making the most of the direct sunlight. The three deck access cores sit at the points on the perimeter block where the deck must flip to the other side of the building in order to facilitate this condition.

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As mentioned previously, we have placed a reasonable limit on the number of people served by each branch of deck so as to more readily foster a positive, tight-knit community that feels ownership and pride over their shared spaces. In the portion of the building shown here, the upper branch serves 10 people, while the lower branch serves 13. The XL flats shown in the image below have their own small paired core.

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Third Floor Plan

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Proposed Courtyard Private/shared balance

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Holistic Design Our courtyard proposal looks to act as a further extension of the home, bringing domesticity into a context that is shared between all residents of the building. The open perimeter block that facilitates the courtyard’s existence simultaneously enhances the distribution of natural light into this lush, planted space. The nature and layout of the spaces within the courtyard were derived from discussions with our focus group, combined with the application of the design principles that we have already embodied within the individual dwellings. Our interviewees’ views on space directly outside the home were very similar to their views on the spaces inside. They should be comfortable, familiar, convenient, safe, secure, scenic, and (most importantly) green. A sandy gravel perimeter path and

central winding route are the key means of circulation through and around the courtyard. The central path gently ramps down to lead residents from podium level to street level, cutting through the building to the west at Surrey Quays Place as it emerges into the public realm. In mediating the level change across the site, we have provided ample permeable space both within and under our podium courtyard for SuDS. The courtyard connects to a route highlighted in the Canada Water Masterplan as ‘Park Walk’. This green pathway connects Southwark Park in the southwest to Russia Dock Woodland in the northeast. There is the potential here to generate a continuous productive urban landscape36, along which our proposed courtyard could be a key focal point for food production and other sustainable community practices.

Circular forms, which symbolise community interaction in other areas of the building (such as the circular puncture between neighbouring terraces, or the ‘porthole’ window within the shared cores) are also employed here in the courtyard. Courtyards that have been analysed in research and case studies tend to have a large ambiguous space where private and shared functions are incompatible or form disjointed interactions. By utilising a level of spatial hierarchy in the courtyard, we allow for various scales of inhabitation. The circular forms create sheltered alcoves across a range of sizes, each with varying levels of visual and acoustic privacy. The idea here is that these are ultimately unprescribed, just like the spaces within the individual dwellings, enabling residents to use them as they please and mould them over time to suit their collective comfort.

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2. Segment Planning — Space Plots

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Design Development These images show the major phases involved in designing the courtyard. Maintaining the ethos of comfort, flexibility and choice, the design aims to ease the entry into the site for a variety of abilities, create an enjoyable experience, and to provide non-pragmatic path options around the courtyard so that inhabitants can find comfort on their own terms.

While it is true that our designs should shape space towards the most comfortable outcomes, we must also consider that residents like to define and explore spaces with a distinct individualism. This is even more true in a space as open as the great outdoors, in which the possibilities of spatial progression and interaction are intrinsically broader.

When a space is designed in a way that does not provide relative equality for residents and their peers, problems can begin to appear with the ways in which spaces are used. This may have significant impacts on other residents’ comfort. It is vital to consider spaces for teenagers and children in particular, and how their uses will change from night to day, summer to winter.

Ambiguous vs. Guided Space An extrapolation of the balance between specificity and non-specificity that we saw within the flats, the courtyard incorporates a blend of ambiguous and guided spaces.

There should be designated spaces in which children can safely engage with the natural environment, but this does not mean that they are exclusively confined to this guided space.

The design of space should not be heavily dominated by one user group, otherwise there may be uncomfortable areas for other users.

Sketch 2: A community garden

Sketch 3: A cycle/ skate park

Sketch4: Outdoor wellness activity space

Sketch 5: Sport activity

Sketch 6: A personal outdoor chill space

Sketch 7: Communal eating and BBQs

Sketch 8: Play space

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Sketch 1: A pet park

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Courtyard Rituals Rather than directly mimicking a space within the home, the shared spaces within the cores are instead largely symbolic of the domesticity that we associate with the individual dwelling. They can accommodate many of the same activities and routines that we find within the home, enabling an extension of the idea of commodification of domestic labour, but also act as stages that can host a range of other rituals. We imagine that skills workshops could take place here between neighbours. Perhaps the dressmaker that we briefly met earlier could bring some of her consultations out into the space on a sunny day. As with the spaces in the homes, these areas will be whatever residents choose for them to be. The most we can do is design spaces that facilitate safe, secure, friendly, and comfortable interaction.

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Courtyard — continued Pathways

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Spaces for All There must be a variety of spaces for a variety of users to feel a sense of ownership. There must be a welcoming presence to the courtyard, regardless of whether dwellers seek community or privacy. For example, as described by Bill Hillier: “the younger children use the constituted (with dwelling entrances) north-south spaces off the main east-west axis, while teenagers, especially boys, use the more integrated, largely unconstituted spaces on the upper levels just off the integration core.”38 The characteristic behaviour patterns of these various users show how they may respond to social spaces that are too deep into the courtyard. Space for young adults must feel easily accessible from cores and not be disjointed from nature, or else spaces run the risk of becoming hostile and antisocial. It is likely that these spaces would be integrated with spaces for adults.

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Access Axes The provision of a combination of direct and diffuse access paths is paramount to the success of the courtyard as a space in which residents can feel ownership and begin to foster a positive community39.

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If we were to look only at systems, for example using space syntax diagrams to predict pedestrian paths throughout the various layers of our proposal, we would be ignoring the unpredictable element of the human condition. We have learnt by now that we should be designing housing with an understanding of people as not so easily defined by systems. This approach disregards our innate individualism.

Site Scale: Canada Water Masterplan, Plot C

Enabling residents to pass through the site in a variety of ways empowers within them a sense of control over their spaces. As with other aspects of our proposal, we are giving the possibility of choice, with this element ultimately providing inhabitants of the neighbourhood the ability to attain comfort within their home (in the broadest sense). A Balancing Act Within this, we are again striking a balance, or compromise, on what is typically accepted within housing developments. In this instance, it is the balance between order and disorder. While local authorities designing for social tenants will attempt

to control as many aspects of their lives as possible, in an attempt to make their job as maintainers of the building easier, this may not be the best approach, or the one that is most comfortable for the local authority. Relating to the reduction of disruptive environments, Richard Sennett believes that community behaviours can adapt to embrace such spaces. The idea of combating social fears can be addressed through the notion that a consistency of smaller and more disordered interactions is less disruptive and potentially violent than sudden outbursts and overreactions that had been pent up by ‘orderly’ spaces.40

Block Scale: Proposed Perimeter Block on Plot C

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Interior Scale: Deck Access within the Proposal

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Roof Plan

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Roof While the podium courtyard prioritises comfort for human residents, the roof looks to accommodate other species who might come to call our building their home. Housing as an exercise is incredibly anthropocentric. We need to ensure that we are making room for nature. A rentable rooftop space looking over the new town square is the only consistent human activity on the roof. Planting provides a visual amenity without the need for human progression through space, allowing a biodiversity of flora and fauna to flourish undisturbed.

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Planting with wildflowers and long grasses is also introduced on the section of roof that hosts an array of solar panels. This portion of the building is a storey lower than the rest, cutting down the massing to increase light levels into the courtyard.

Biodiversity Net Gain

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Biodiversity Net Gain

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Courtyard The communal podium courtyard is lush and verdant. It provides sun and shade in various proportions. The façades of the building are varied, with residents inhabiting their external decks and terraces with their plants and possessions. The staggered terraces generate a friendly and recognisable façade for residents and visitors alike, promoting interactions between those on the terraces and those in the courtyard. There is a sense of calmness and security within the urban block.

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A New Architectural Language With the rise in temperatures predicted across London — moving towards a climate more akin to Barcelona’s by 205041 — it is likely that the architectural language of the city will change to provide physical comfort. Façades must be articulated in direct response to their orientation and climatic conditions Awnings Private terraces are orientated to maximise access to sunlight for each dwelling, being located exclusively along southeast and southwest facing façades. These terraces are staggered so that each dwelling is afforded a double height external space. This has the added benefit of bringing further daylight into the dwellings since the windows in these areas are unobstructed by any overhead mass. This lack of obstruction leads us to employ modest awnings to shade windows on these façades from direct sun in summer. While it is recommended that these are retracted in winter to provide ample daylight to each dwelling’s interior, most important is that the awnings are adjustable by residents. As we have found throughout the project, comfort comes from the ability to control and adapt one’s environment, rather than being provided with a fixed ‘optimum’.

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Deep Reveals Façades that host a series of decks do not require awnings; they do not have a southern aspect. Instead, they are shaded from oblique sunlight through deep window reveals. These are employed uniformly across the building, including on terrace façades, due to the symmetric altitude of morning and evening sun.

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The Neighbourhood as Home Ground Floor Core Entrances At ground floor, a series of active community and retail frontages are punctuated by entrances to residential cores. The circular ‘porthole’ window, a marker of communal residential space across and throughout the block, is a welcome sight for residents; a comfortable approach to the home.

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The personalisable elements of each core’s community spaces trickle down to the ground floor, reaching the arms of the home down to the street. Here this appears in the form of a datum of red tiles.

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Home in the City As a proof of concept, this building embodies our key manifesto points throughout. Dynamic communal spaces, responsive to the needs of residents, foster a positive community within the urban courtyard block. Long life, loose fit flats can respond to a changing climate with true dual aspect, and act as stages for inhabitation through their flexible, non-prescript nature. Their functional and environmental resilience empowers a range of cultures and lifestyles. Ultimately, the scheme forms a new agenda for urban housing with comfort at its core, able to adapt to maintain this comfort into the future.

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Home in the City

An Agenda for Future Housing

Specificity and Non-Specificity Through a process of designing homes from the inside out, we have developed a new agenda for housing that is based on comfort, marketed on area, and challenges many of the accepted norms that we see within housing today. While we have applied our design principles to a specific site within the emerging Canada Water Masterplan, the intention is that they could be realised in a range of initially nonspecific city contexts. The design process and resultant typology that we have developed are centred around a discrete series of rules — some quantitative, some qualitative — that could be adopted by any social-minded housing association to inform their design guidance. Yet, our ultimate clients are the communities that will turn these houses into homes, wherever they may be in the world.

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A refocusing of our housing agenda as described in this book can empower these communities to achieve comfort. This refocusing need not be loud, brash, or performative in order to be a radical model for the home within the city. Instead we propose an architecture of understanding and care.

Reinterpreting the Matrix

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Dependencies The Matrix of Comfort that we have presented throughout the project has shown the elements that we identified as separate entities. We must acknowledge that these relationships are, on the whole, interdependent. Here we envisage a restructuring of our original matrix, using

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interpret the diagram below literally. Flexibility facilitates a lot of the elements within the matrix, hence why it has been constantly referred to throughout this book. Perhaps there is an argument that it should be an element that encompasses the matrix.

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Contextualising Our Proposals All Dwellings

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Area vs. Volume In terms of average dwelling size, our proposals sit around the average for the countries compared opposite. In terms of the average room size, they are the lowest ranking out of the countries assessed. This is however counteracted by the number of rooms that we are providing. Tbe principle of combining rooms through large double doors is what enables the dwellings to remain comfortable despite ‘smaller than average’ room sizes.

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/bVYQNOVYVaf ?RTbYNaV\[` Construction and Cost Throughout the project, we have envisioned that the dwellings would be built from a system of CLT and glulam. Our homes — and this system of dry construction — lend themselves to off-site prefabrication. This would reduce the construction programme, cutting down on the expenses paid on contractor’s preliminaries via a shorter time on site.

CLT Ceil storage box

CLT Panelle resistant coat

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This system of construction would not necessarily have standardised dimensions (we have not created a truly modular system) but rather be able to populate sites in a rational way with a series of fairly straightforward, standard details. This can again reduce cost through the ease with which the dwellings can be erected.

CLT Panel range fron doors (floor supply) and doors 910m

These measures look to tackle the increased capital expenditure that arises through a 25% increase in dwelling sizes over the minimum. Our proposal on the test plot within the Canada Water Masterplan delivers 172 dwellings. This is 4 fewer than the recommended parameters set out within the masterplan — a density of 265 dwellings/ hectare.

FFL plate and CLT wall connection detail insulated with fire retardant thermal fibres

Fire We have looked to address 4 key issues surrounding fire:

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— Spread of flame on the façade The fibre cement board (timber fibre substitute) that we have specified for our cladding is non-combustible42. — Exposed CLT meeting at a corner This condition does not occur within our proposals. — CLT exposed to fire from two sides This condition does not occur within our proposals. We would like to expose CLT more were regulations to permit this. — Evacuation strategy A slight overprovision of cores (compared to ‘normal’) will streamline the process of evacuation in the event of fire. All of our flats and shared spaces will be fitted with sprinklers as standard.

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Supporting wood structure Thermal insulation 70mm

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@b`aNV[NOVYVaf While sustainable principles are intertwined throughout our project, we thought it imporant to dedicate a section here that focuses specifically on these considerations.

Climate Emergency The UK housing stock is not fit for the current climate and the change in the future. The quality of these homes needs to be addressed to adapt to the new changes climate change imposes on us.

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49% of UK GHG emissions come from the construction sector. We can break these carbon emissions down into embodied carbon and operational carbon.

Embodied Embodied carbon comes from the emissions created during the construction process. It includes how the materials for the building are extracted and processed as well as the energy and water consumption in the assembly and construction of the building.

Total UK Greenhouse Gas Emissions 31% Transport

27% Business

22% Domestic

? 5% From heating and hot water

In our project, we aim to reduce this cost through the use of low-carbon building materials, using a CLT structure and timber fibre composite cladding panels to wrap the building.

Operational Operational carbon comes from the energy used by a building through heating, hot water, cooling, ventilation, and lighting systems, as well as types of equipment inside each home, like washing machines and TVs. Reducing the operational energy of the building is key to decarbonising the housing stock.

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We have made Operational Carbon the main topic of interest when designing a comfortable home. The design strategies used to reduce the effects of climate change and help with operational carbon are: aspect and outlook, daylight, sunlight, overshadowing, air quality, and thermal comfort.

20% Other

15% From heating and hot water

Dual Aspect Introducing true dual aspect to dwellings can provide ample natural light as well as help the building perform better through cross-ventilation. In turn, this decreases the operational energy required for the building.

Biodiversity Net Gain

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Light Quality Dual aspect dwellings allow for light to penetrate the floor plan from two directions and create great natural light levels. Cross-ventilation Single aspect dwellings are more difficult to naturally ventilate and thus more likely to overheat. This is a concern due to London’s rising temperatures, related to climate change. It also provides better air quality and reduces internal pollution levels. Thermal Comfort Dual aspect dwellings facilitate effective cross-ventilation, making it easier to regulate the temperature within them. However, when window openings aren’t appropriately sized, overheating can occur. The correct balance needs to be struck between increasing daylight and reducing overheating.

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Thermal Comfort Climate change means that London is already experiencing higher than historic average temperature, and more severe hot weather events. Both will worsen over time. There are a number of ways to reduce overheating and increase thermal comfort in the home. Dual aspect allows for crossventilation to help cool the building and a number of other measures can be taken to create thermal comfort within the dwelling.

The Home in the City Orientation In the UK, north-facing windows nearly always lead to net heat loss, whereas south-facing ones usually lead to heat gain. This can be effective in the winter, but usually leads to overheating in the summer. We have used a perimeter block to our advantage by minimising direct south-facing façades, reducing solar gain in summer, instead employing southwest and southeast facing façades to strike a balance between positive and negative solar gain.

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We used various studies to see the effects of cutting into the massing of our perimeter block. We concluded that reducing the two southernmost wings of the scheme in height would sufficiently help reduce overshadowing in the courtyard, while still attaining an appropriate density of dwellings on the site.

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A New Architectural Language With the rise in temperatures in London predicted for the future, it is likely that the architectural language of the city will evolve. Fenestration and façades will change to include more appropriate and adaptable solar shading devices. Awnings Awnings or canopies provide solar shading from direct sun at midday and can be retracted in winter to allow for ample light. They are built into the southeast and southwest façades. Deep Recess Deeply recessed windows provide a greater angle for shading from direct sunlight at all times of the day, whether the sun is in the south or the east/west. Terrace placement Our terraces have been staggered as you move up the façade to reduce shading. This means that there is a double height space over at least part of each terrace..

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Conclusions

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House and Home The transition that we can facilitate from House to Home is an intriguing one. This is the movement from being content or tolerant, as touted by Bates43, to being comfortable. Many members of our focus group were tolerant of their current living conditions — they were provided with the basic needs of shelter, security and so on. External parties may view these conditions as comprising a Home, and in some ways it might feel like a home to a resident through its location, but the spatial arrangements are not comfortable. Tolerance has not transformed into comfort; house has not evolved into home. Comfort is an essential aspect of sustainability. Until we feel comfortable, we are not going to preserve the planet; if people are unhappy with their home, their lifestyle, they are unlikely to treasure their world. Our Current Context We have been working with an acute awareness of the social, political and economic realities of the systems that we operate in. Many of our design explorations were discounted due to perceived incompatibilities with the economies of the current planning context, but we see the potential, given the right context, to push many of these ideas further. We see progress in housing as a gradual, step-by-step process. Any new approach or typology of living that can act as an agent of change needs to be closer to what currently exists than what we might eventually want our ideal homes to be.

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It may be that societal constructs and norms can be pushed further into something resembling co-housing, or maybe

something that echoes Anna Puigjaner’s agenda for a ‘Kitchenless City’; moving ‘Towards a Diffuse House’44. In this way, by extrapolating domestic rituals even further out from the dwelling, we might begin to challenge the boundaries of The Home — how comfort in domesticity can translate to the neighbourhood, the city, the planet. Making and Breaking The rules that we feel we are ‘breaking’ are interlinked. Primarily, we have challenged the prescriptions of space standards in relation to both function and area. These prescriptions perpetuate a societal norm that mass housing provides specific spaces for non-specific people. We are not completely reforming this rule, i.e. providing non-specific spaces for specific people, as we are still designing mass housing, for which dwellers will have a degree of non-specificity. Instead, we are proposing spaces that balance specificity and non-specificity for a demographic of dwellers that also sit somewhere between these two extremes. The rule that has been the key driver of the project has been that all dwellings must have true dual aspect. This was stipulated within our initial brief, and accepted from the outset as a sensible approach to designing climate resilient homes. Throughout the design process, however, this rule has been a consistent constraint. It has had an incredibly strong influence on the forms and layouts of the individual dwellings, and of course also on the perimeter block form through which we tested our design ideas. Perhaps this further highlights the importance of striking a fine balance between specific and non-specific; between comfort and adaptability.

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?RſRPaV\[` On the Design On the Process

General Reflections — We have framed our project as a proposition to further the understanding of the home, rather than an answer to a problem. We realise the need to provide a step-change in housing; it is not something that can be changed overnight due to how highly regulated it is. — In this vein, we have realised that housing is an incredibly underestimated sector in terms of complexity, especially if you are intending to go anywhere near challenging the status quo. — There were certain norms that we accepted without realising throughout the design process, such as the inclusion of a TV within living rooms by default. There are almost certainly others that we have missed! — We briefly explored maisonette types, but would have liked to have pushed this further were the project’s timeframe a bit longer. These would introduce another dimension of comfort to the design

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— Similarly, we were not truly able to reach a level of extreme granularity on the issue of comfort within the home. The realities of this in practice, such as the location of hot water pipes within the flat that might inadvertently heat spaces to an uncomfortable level, are the next step up from what we have explored.

— Where is the threshold of comfort? Contentment can be achieved through fairly little, but you can always be more comfortable. We may therefore anticipate ever-increasing levels of comfort (a new baseline is achieved, from which further comfort is sought, until this new level becomes the baseline for comfort), but climate change will not permit this. The things we have done for human comfort in the past are now detrimental to our comfort in the future due to our destabilisation of global environmental systems. — We have attempted to make the proposal as attractive to developers as it might be to prospective dwellers. We argue that construction is easier, faster, and cheaper, but the issue of land use is still a contentious one, as raised at our final Symposium. 25% larger dwellings means that fewer people could be housed on any given site than with flats that were at the Nationally Described Space Standards. We could be going higher, we could be going denser, but this would not strike the best balance of comfort for all. We see towers as inherently unnatural and therefore uncomfortable ways of living. Our dwellings lend themselves better to comfortable mid-rise urban blocks, as demonstrated in our proposal for the site in Rotherhithe. As with all design, it is a compromise.

Reflections

Testing the most comfortable clearance between the end of a bed and an adjacent wall, using the best tools available to us at the time.

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Daniel

Reflections

A Comfortable Home has taught me the fundamental factors involved in housing design. From the psychological aspect of research to the interrogation and application of data. The process of creating a scheme for housing is one that challenged my thinking as an architect and raised my level of critique on “radical” practical design. My “takeaway” from this Think Tank is that a comfortable home thinks about the community/individual users' lifestyle at the forefront and how they can have a home to inhabit for the long term. Working in a team had many positives but also bore some challenges. Having very skilled colleagues in a team with a wide variety of design resources meant we could produce high-quality work at a quicker rate (once the ideas had narrowed down). However, the benefits of having multiple opinions can also create some hindrances such as the time taken on making decisions— this could have been more efficient. Alongside decisiveness, the ability to pursue a direction that conflicts with others' ideas would constrain the input into some tasks. In summary, I learnt a lot of things from my teammates and I was able to share knowledge to a good standard to benefit the project's progression. I will use the knowledge gathered towards design direction.

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Elliott

Reflections

I’d like to start by thanking both my team and the support network that we have had around us throughout this Think Tank. The tutors, Blazej, Daniel, Emma and Richard have all been amazing over the past few months and I doubt we would have produced as interesting of a project without them. In terms of my reflections on the Think Tank and its processes, I found that throughout the research and design development I have had my perceptions of what is ‘radical’ challenged. Personally, I started at a basis of radical design being distant from, and questioning of, any normal design typologies or techniques. Throughout our research and design stages however, I found my perception of radical to shift quite dramatically towards being a reaction to current conditions that truly takes into account the user’s, or in this case dweller’s, needs. I found that, when doing something as interesting and fluctuating as housing, radical solutions would most likely need to come incrementally in today’s society. Rather than an entirely new type of housing being introduced I have started to think that it is about introducing recognisable elements of design in new and interesting forms. I look forward to taking forward what I have learnt and challenged throughout this design not only into the rest of my time at the LSA but also my career.

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Funmi

Reflections

We set out to identify what a comfortable home means to us as individuals, and how this reflects within the City of London, focusing on the Borough of Southwark. Culture and built spaces are two interlinked concepts within our studies, this helped to create meaningful environments with unique identity which is expressed through the elements and features of how the dwellers will co-exist within a private or open setting. The concepts around adaptability, sustainability and long life, loose fit, helped to evoke a sense of belonging among dwellers. After carrying out studies to deconstruct the spatial organisation, street pattern, landscaping features, we established that this did not reflect a typical Londoner’s lifestyle, belief, ritual and customs of the inhabitants, which finally becomes the identity of their home. Independently I was mainly focused on unravelling the identity of dwellers that migrated to London, who left their homeland for better education or job opportunities and settled in London, where all social-cultural aspects are different from theirs. We proceeded to investigate how to establish a comfortable home that is adaptable in that sense. Architecture can be used as a good medium to represent people in any area if properly planned and designed. These requirements are always derived from their lifestyles, thought patterns and social needs based on their culture, traditions, and customs. The spaces where dwellers live should create space for a reflection of their culture.

A comfortable home is space that can create harmony of a dweller’s past and future rituals.

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George

Reflections

It’s been a pleasure to work with such ambitious and hard working students. The shared attitude to setting a high standard of output and readiness to progress ideas has created a collection of rigorous work that is reinforced by thorough research. Working with Maccreanor Lavington Architects has been key to the progression of our thoughts about housing and the knowledge they have shared with us will leave a lasting impact in future interaction with the topic. The project has made me understand the complexities of housing to a greater extent and there are still topics which I hope to explore throughout the rest of my time at the LSA. We designed from the inside out which put a lot of emphasis on the home and what it means as architects to facilitate the means to create a home as an occupant. Through thinking this way we were able to design holistically, with different individuals focusing on different scales. While I have found designing the building with an emphasis on sustainability an interesting topic, I think that this type of thinking should be used in all projects, not just one that focuses on a comfortable home. Shouldn't all buildings be comfortable? And why aren't low-tech design solutions used to combat the changing climate that London is already experiencing? Orientation and shading should be used a lot more efficiently to maximise building performance and make sustainability less of a specialisation in our industry.

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Imi

Reflections

On reflection of the project as a whole, I think it has become clear to me that a series of small adjustments and design interventions can come together to have just as significant an impact on housing, as one large radical change. I believe that our focus being on creating non-specific housing for specific users, rather than the current ‘specific housing for non-specific users’ has been successful in challenging the current comfort British housing provides. Furthermore, our non-site-specific dwelling typologies can be used as a blueprint in other locations to extend our provision of comfortable housing. Personally, I’m extremely proud of our growth as a team, specifically as we prepared for the final symposium. It was at this point we were really able to recognise each member’s individual strengths and use these to our cohesive advantage. Therefore, our final workflow was far more straight forward and despite a last-minute wave of illness hitting the group, we were able to hold together and finish the project. 259

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and there’s a real deliberacy to the easability of the enfilade.

James

Reflections

It has been a refreshing exercise to explore how to design homes from the inside out. Housing design can be a demoralising process that often doesn't feel like 'design', with so many elements pre-determined by client, by precedent, or by so-called best practice. Investigating how to create functionally and environmentally resilient housing that can accommodate a diversity of dwellers from the root has yielded many provocations. I hope that these ideas and agendas can be brought forward into practice, in order to drive domestic design to be as comfortable as it should be for all. The project has certainly not been easy, but it has been brightened by the efforts of a great team who have always brought varied and challenging ideas on housing, culture and society to the table. At first we felt directionless — there are so many ways in which you could interpret the initial brief — but the process through which we developed the project has led us to a resolved vision for future housing that places comfort at its heart. It has sparked many more questions than it has answered, leaving us all with food for thought to take into our remaining time at the LSA and our future careers. After such a life-consuming process — the word 'comfortable' will never sound the same — it might be reasonable to think that none of us want to design housing ever again. In fact, I think it has only strengthened our desires to tackle these crucial issues that are so fundamental to how we live our lives, both inside and outside the home.

261

References

Endnotes 1 Bates, S., 2016. The idea of comfort. In: Sergison, J. and Bates, S., eds. Papers 3. Lausanne: Quart-Verlag, p. 57. 2 Ipsos Mori and RIBA, 2012. The way we live now: What people need and expect from their homes. [pdf] Available at: https://www.ipsos.com/sites/default/files/ publication/1970-01/sri-riba-the-way-we-live-now-may-2012.pdf [Accessed 19 December 2021]. 3 OED Online, 2022. radical, adj. and n. [online] Available at: https://www.oed.com/ view/Entry/157251 [Accessed March 12, 2022]. 4 Lauridsen, A., 2020. What is Radical Today? [online] Available at: https://www. editcollective.uk/what-is-radical [Accessed 9 March 2022]. 5 Hilson Moran, 2021. Designing cities for increasing temperatures. [online] 2 November. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XKbroi7r6c [Accessed 3 December 2021]. 6 Pallasmaa, J., 1992. The Concept of Home: An Interdisciplinary View. [lecture] University of Trondheim, 21-23 August. Available at: http://www.uiah.fi/studies/ history2/e_ident.htm [Accessed: 5 December 2021]. 7 Aureli, P. V. and Giudici, M. S., 2016. Familiar Horror: Toward a Critique Of Domestic Space. Log, 38, p. 105. 8 EsbjÖrn-Hargens, S., 2010. Integral Theory in Action: Applied, Theoretical, and Constructive Perspectives on the AQAL Model. Albaby, NY: SUNY Press. 9 Wigley, M., 1991. Untitled: The Housing of Gender. In: Colomina, B., ed. Sexuality and Space. New York, NY: Princeton Architectural Press, p. 332. 10 Alberti, L. B., 1991. On the Art of Building in Ten Books. Translated from the Italian by J. Rykwert, N. Leach and R. Tavernor. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, Book V, p. 149. 11 Friedman, A. T., 2015. Queer Old Thing. Places Journal. [e-journal] Available at: https://placesjournal.org/article/queer-old-things [Accessed 9 January 2022]. 12 Aureli, P. V. and Giudici, M. S., 2016. Familiar Horror: Toward a Critique Of Domestic Space. Log, 38, pp. 105. 13 OMMX, 2018. Naked House. [online] Available at: http://www.officemmx.com/ project/nakedhouse [Accessed 14 January 2022]. 14 Morgan, M. and Cruickshank, H., 2014. Quantifying the extent of space shortages: English Dwellings. Building Research & Information, 42(6), pp. 710-724. 15 Walters, J. T., 1918. Report of the Committee Appointed to Consider Questions of Building Construction in Connection with the Provision of Dwellings for the Working Classes. London: HMSO. 16 Park, J., 2017. One Hundred Years of Housing Space Standards: What now? [pdf] Available at: http://housingspacestandards.co.uk/assets/space-standards_onscreen_print. pdf [Accessed 22 December 2021]. 17 Pallasmaa, J., 1992. The Concept of Home: An Interdisciplinary View. [lecture] University of Trondheim, 21-23 August. Available at: http://www.uiah.fi/studies/ history2/e_ident.htm [Accessed: 5 December 2021].

18 De Botton, A., 2014. The Architecture of Happiness. 2nd ed. London: Penguin Books, p. 107. 19 Evans, R., 1978. Figures, Doors and Passages. In: Evans, R., 1997, Translations from Drawing to Building and Other Essays. London: Architectural Association, pp. 55-91. 20 Roberts, M., 1990. Gender and Housing: The Impact of Design. Built Environment, 16(4), pp. 257-268. 21 EDIT, 2020. Still No Progress. [online] Available at: https://www.editcollective.uk/ still-no-progress [Accessed 9 March 2022].

22 HM Government, 2016. Approved Document M: Access to and use of buildings. [pdf] Available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/ system/uploads/attachment_data/file/540330/BR_PDF_AD_M1_2015_with_2016_ amendments_V3.pdf [Accessed 10 March 2022]. 23 Ipsos Mori and RIBA, 2012. The way we live now: What people need and expect from their homes. [pdf] Available at: https://www.ipsos.com/sites/default/files/ publication/1970-01/sri-riba-the-way-we-live-now-may-2012.pdf [Accessed 19 December 2021]. 24 Evans, R., 1978. Figures, Doors and Passages. In: Evans, R., 1997, Translations from Drawing to Building and Other Essays. London: Architectural Association, pp. 55-91. 25

Ibid., p. 65.

Ibid., p. 90.

27 EDIT, 2020. Still No Progress. [online] Available at: https://www.editcollective.uk/ still-no-progress [Accessed 9 March 2022]. 28 Wigley, M., 1991. Untitled: The Housing of Gender. In: Colomina, B., ed. Sexuality and Space. New York, NY: Princeton Architectural Press, p. 341. 29

Ibid., p. 346.

30 Puigjaner, A., 2021. Kitchenless City. [online] Available at: https://www.maioarchitects.com/project/kitchenless-city [Accessed 10 March 2022]. 31 Alberti, L. B., 1991. On the Art of Building in Ten Books. Translated from the Italian by J. Rykwert, N. Leach and R. Tavernor. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. 32 Trummer, P., 2013. The City as an Object: Thoughts on The Form of the City. Log, 27, p. 51. 33 Buchanan, P., 2013. The Big Rethink Concludes: Neigbourhood as the Expansion of the Home. The Architectural Review, 233(1396), p. 86. 34 Klinenberg, E., 2018. Palaces for the People. London: Vintage, p. 57. 35

Ibid., p. 58.

36 Viljoen, A., 2021. Continuous Productive Urban Landscapes: more experience for less consumption. [lecture] 12 November. 37 Hillier, B., 2007. Space is the machine: a configurational theory of architecture. 3rd ed. London: Space Syntax, p. 155.

Ibid., p. 149.

Ibid., p. 174.

40 Sennett, R. and Sendra, P., 2020. Designing Disorder: Experiments and Disruptions in the City. London: Verso, p. 120. 41 Bastin, J-F. et al., 2019. Understanding climate change from a global analysis of city analogues. PLoS ONE, 14(7), pp. 1-13. 42 Modinex Group, n.d. Viroc. [online]. Available at: https://www.modinex.com.au/ products/viroc [Accessed 14 March 2022]. 43 Bates, S., 2016. The idea of comfort. In: Sergison, J. and Bates, S., eds. Papers 3. Lausanne: Quart-Verlag, p. 57. 44 Puigjaner, A., 2021. Kitchenless City. [online] Available at: https://www.maio-architects.com/project/kitchenless-city [Accessed 10 March 2022]. 45

Kerr, R., 1864. The Gentleman’s House. London: John Murray.

Image Sources

Foreword: Frames from: Mel Stuart, Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, 1971. p. 39: Guim Tió, Banyera, 2020. https://aseriesofrooms.com/#/asset/-MAzTtYzT2ZzD1_WRjKk Pierre Boncompain. https://aseriesofrooms.com/#/asset/-M92XKQkO1VQ4ucvNV4b p. 48: Bernard Ghobert, 1968. In: Caso, P., 1968. Bernard Ghobert. Brussels: Laconti. p. 49; left to right, top to bottom: https://www.dezeen.com/2018/12/08/movie-table-top-apartments-kwong-von-glilowmini-living-video https://www.stevenholl.com/project/fukuoka-housing https://www.architectsjournal.co.uk/buildings/building-study-sergison-bates-antwerpapartment-building https://afasiaarchzine.com/2020/07/david-leech-a-long-house-sheeps-head-way https://www.metalocus.es/en/news/cooperation-community-and-neighborhoodinvolvement-la-balma-housing-cooperative-laboqueria-and-lacol https://www.fritsvandongen.nl/nl/natal https://www.didierlaroche.org/20-spain?lightbox=dataItem-jdvvc0ji https://www.dezeen.com/2019/01/04/david-chipperfield-architects-karakusevic-carsonhoxton-press-towers-hackney-london http://www.architectureguide.nl/project/list_projects_of_typeofbuilding/typ_id/8/ prj_id/332 https://www.core77.com/posts/101232/An-Upcoming-Home-Trend-PredictionModular-Layouts https://sergisonbates.com/en/projects/harbour-building-antwerp https://laboqueria.net/en/projects/cooperativa-dhabitatge-la-balma https://www.flickr.com/photos/dgeezer/29172232913 http://hiddenarchitecture.net/domus-demain http://condicionstemporals.blogspot.com/2013/03/homes-for-senior-citizens-peterzumthor.html

p. 58: Stijn Jonckheere, 2020. https://stijnjonckheere.be/Architecture p. 81: Arnar Asgeirsson. https://arnarasgeirsson.com/Buildings p. 83: https://www.dezeen.com/2022/01/04/apparata-a-house-for-artists-affordable-housinglondon-architecture p. 90: https://www.mansionglobal.com/articles/measure-of-u-k-housing-sentiment-showscautious-confidence-01646943327 p. 91: Anna Mary Robertson. https://aseriesofrooms.com/#/asset/-Lwwh5x_uTBKoFP3zmt0 p. 92: Noritaka Minami, 1972, 2012. http://www.noritakaminami.com p. 93: Author's own photograph of: Mark Cowper, At home in a high-rise, 2009. p. 94: Frames from: Alfred Hitchcock, Rear Window, 1954. p. 95: Menzel, P., 1994. Material World: A Global Family Portrait. Berkeley: Counterpoint. Huang Qingjun. http://huangqingjun.com/cg/family-stuff/ Menno Aden. https://mennoaden.com/room_portraits p. 100: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/tongue-twister-museum-clears-its-name-lxhx5qgm3 p. 104: https://comics.ha.com/itm/animation-art/production-cel/the-simpsons-couch-gagproduction-cel-setup-fox-1993-/a/7122-96043.s p. 105:

https://quintessenceblog.com/ottoman-chic https://www.houzz.co.uk/photos/banana-island-lagos-nigeria-contemporary-livingroom-miami-phvw-vp~10182254 p. 106: https://www.brabbu.com/en/inspiration-and-ideas/interior-design/beautiful-livingroom-inspiration-interior-designers https://3dtotal.com/galleries/teicz/moroccan-apartment p. 107: https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2007.html https://www.vogue.com/article/beautiful-india-home-tour-interiors p. 113: Bernard Ghobert, 1968. In: Caso, P., 1968. Bernard Ghobert. Brussels: Laconti. p. 145: Felix Vallotton, Intérieur avec femme en rouge de dos. https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/757614 Felix Vallotton, Interior with Woman in Pink. https://www.wikiart.org/en/felix-vallotton/interior-with-woman-in-pink-1904 p. 149: Klein, A., 1928. The Functional House for Frictionless Living. In: Bauer, C., 1934. Modern Housing. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, p. 203. p. 172 Brecht Evens. http://www.brechtevens.com/thecityofbelgium p. 174 Trummer, P., 2013. The City as an Object: Thoughts on The Form of the City. Log, 27, p. 51. p. 190 https://www.greyscape.com/lenin-to-bevin-court-berthold-lubetkin https://www.bdonline.co.uk/news/lubetkins-sivill-house-listed-after-residentscampaign/5106360.article https://www.dezeen.com/2018/12/08/movie-table-top-apartments-kwong-von-glilowmini-living-video https://www.archdaily.com/972270/barranca-del-muerto-building-cca-centro-decolaboracion-arquitectonica https://www.canadianarchitect.com/letter-from-barcelona

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[Accessed 22 December 2021]. Per, A. F. and Mozas, J., 2018. 50 Housing Floor Plans. Vitoria-Gasteiz: a+t architecture publishers. Phillips, D., 2004. Daylighting: Natural Light in Architecture. Oxford: Architectural Press. Powell, C., 1974. Fifty years of progress. Built Environment, 3(10), pp. 532-535. Preciado, P. B., 2014. Pornotopia: An Essay on Playboy's Architecture and Biopolitics. New York, NY: Zone Books. Ratey, J. and Manning, R., 2014. Go Wild: Free Your Body and Mind from the Afflictions of Civilization. New York, NY: Little, Brown Spark. Rawes, P., 2017. Housing Biopolitics and Care. In: Radman, A. and Sohn, H., eds. Critical and Clinical Cartographies: Architecture, Robotics, Medicine, Philosophy. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, pp. 80-100. RIBA, 2012. The Future Homes Commission: Building the Homes and Communities Britain Needs. [pdf] Available at: https://issuu.com/ribacomms/docs/ futurehomecommissionhires2 [Accessed 14 December 2021]. Roberts, M., 1990. Gender and Housing: The Impact of Design. Built Environment, 16(4), pp. 257-268. Schneider, F., 2004. Floor Plan Manual: Housing. 3rd ed. Basel: Birkhäuser. Sennett, R. and Sendra, P., 2020. Designing Disorder: Experiments and Disruptions in the City. London: Verso. Sixsmith, J., 1986. The Meaning of Home: An Exploratory Study of Environmental Experience. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 6, pp. 281-298. Smith, S. G., 1994. The Essential Qualities of a Home. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 14, pp. 31-46. Trummer, P., 2013. The City as an Object: Thoughts on The Form of the City. Log, 27, pp. 51-57. Viljoen, A., 2021. Continuous Productive Urban Landscapes: more experience for less consumption. [lecture] 12 November. Walters, J. T., 1918. Report of the Committee Appointed to Consider Questions of Building Construction in Connection with the Provision of Dwellings for the Working Classes. London: HMSO. Watkins, K. and Chapman, J., 2022. Houses and flats. In: Buxton, P., ed. Metric Handbook: Planning and Design Data. 7th ed. Abingdon: Routledge, pp. 444-472. Wigley, M., 1991. Untitled: The Housing of Gender. In: Colomina, B., ed. Sexuality and Space. New York, NY: Princeton Architectural Press, pp. 327-389. Wright, F. L., 1983. Drawings and Plans of Frank Lloyd Wright. New York, NY: Dover Publications. Wright, F. L. and Saint, A., 2017. An Organic Architecture: The Architecture of Democracy. 2nd ed. London: Lund Humphries.

Appendices Appendix 1: Brief Appendix 2: Site Selection Appendix 3: London’s Housing Stock 5ddYbX]l (. 5b 9jc`j]b[ Hmdc`c˩ 5ddYbX]l ). 6f]h]g\ <cig]b[ 7\fcbc`c˩ Appendix 6: Housing Precedent Studies Appendix 7: Shared Space Precedent Studies

DESIGN THINK TANK A Comfortable Home LSA | 2021-2022

WHAT? Lockdowns

Density

Nearly two years into most of us spending more time at home than most generations before, we’ve become intimately acquainted with the best and the worst features of our homes and neighbourhoods. With this enforced focus on homelife many have re-evaluated their lives, moved home, changed their home in some way or left our city for the short or long-term. Now is an opportunity for us as architects to re-evaluate our approach to housing and KRPH WR UHIRFXV RQ ZKDW LV UHDOO\ LPSRUWDQW ǸH UHVSRQVH to the pandemic has shown that the rapid change that will be needed to address the climate emergency is possible and our city still needs to address the Housing Crisis with more urgency.

ǸH XUEDQ UHQDLVVDQFH RI WKH SDVW WZHQW\ \HDUV KDV seen permissible housing densities in London double HYHU\ IHZ \HDUV ǸLV KDV LQ JHQHUDO EHHQ D SRVLWLYH VKLIW to increase densities from the bizarre car-dominated VXEXUELD RI WKH ƪV DQG ƪV WKDW FDQ EH IRXQG RQ WKH Rotherhithe peninsula and all across the country. But we should now ask whether this trend has gone too far and what is happening to the space for nature and people within our city. How intense do we want our city to be?

For many, the lockdown home became a trap, with the familiar escape of the workplace, school, library or pub QR ORQJHU DYDLODEOH ǸLQJV WKDW ZHUH UHODWLYHO\ LPSRUWDQW when we had spent less time at home became a major annoyance, whether it was external noise pollution or poor ventilation. However there have also been positives: WKH HDUOLHVW SKDVH RI WKH ǳUVW ORFNVRZQ VKRZHG ZKDW RXU city could be like with fewer cars on the road and we have seen the public realm adapted rapidly to accommodate more space for cycling and walking, although ther is still much more to do. ǸH ORFNGRZQV RI DQG VHUYHG DV DQ DFXWH reminder that our housing stock, including some of our PRVW UHFHQW KRXVLQJ LV QRW ǳW IRU WKH FOLPDWH HPHUJHQF\ as highlighted again in the Climate Change Committee’s recent report to Parliament: “UK homes are largely unprepared for climate change. The Government now has an opportunity to act. There must be compliance with stated building designs and standards. We need housing with low-carbon sources of heating. And we must finally grasp the challenge of improving our poor levels of home energy efficiency. As the climate continues to change, our homes are becoming increasingly uncomfortable and unsafe. This will continue unless we take steps now to adapt them for higher temperatures, flooding and water scarcity. Our report shows that this work has barely begun”

The system We now have a system of housing provision that is largely led by private speculative development. A system that is highly regulated by policy makers to force the ǳQDQFH LQ WKLV V\VWHP WR GHOLYHU WKH HOHPHQWV RI D EDODQFHG DQG HTXLWDEOH FLW\ WKDW FDQ EH FRGLǳHG LQ UHJXODWLRQ DQG delivered through the now highly complex system of negation and enforcement that is our planning system. But is this system really delivering the homes and places we need for now and that we will need for the future? Or does it result in an aesthetically pleasing but largely unsustainable compromise? ǸH SODQQLQJ V\VWHP KDV RYHU WKH ODVW GHFDGH DFKLHYHG a real step change in the quality of homes that we build, helping shape the so called New London Vernacular. We now clad new buildings in robust materials and plant trees in their courtyards. Our new homes are quite spacious (in comparison with the past) and come with large windows and balconies, although they seldom face PRUH WKDQ RQH GLUHFWLRQ ǸH DUH ZHOO LQVXODWHG DQG FRPH equipped with advanced ventilation and heating systems. What is not immediately obvious is that this vernacular of over-engineered single-aspect homes has made or will make them somewhat unliveable as our climate changes. Deeper than a Georgian or Victorian terraced house, our single-aspect homes are dark at the back, no matter KRZ ODUJH DUH WKHLU ZLQGRZV ǸRVH ZLQGRZV LI YLVXDOO\ pleasing, generate more solar gain than the non-existent cross ventilation can neutralise.

Baroness Brown, Chair of the Adaptation Committee of the Committee on &OLPDWH &KDQJH KWWSV ZZZ WKHFFF RUJ XN XN KRPHV XQǳW for-the-challenges-of-climate-change-ccc-says/ 2

DESIGN THINK TANK

Challenge Of all building types, a housing block is the most controlled, with building regulations, planning policies and developers’ viability models leaving little room to manoeuvre. Too often, it turns the creative process RI GHVLJQLQJ D KRPH LQWR DQ H[HUFLVH LQ WU\LQJ WR ǳW VWDQGDUGLVHG IXUQLWXUH GHǳQHG E\ UHJXODWLRQ LQVLGH D VPDOOLVK URRP ǸLV PRVW IUXVWUDWLQJ WDVN SHUIRUPHG E\ D young architect, is nevertheless crucial to the success and failure of housing as a model. It ensures that a housing unit can act as a home to a group of friends living together, an orthodox religious family or an elderly couple. ǸH UHVXOWDQW SDWWHUQ ERRN RI LGHQWLNLW ǴDWV PDNHV it very hard to deviate from and to spatially address the climate emergency, or indeed the changing needs of residents. We will examine this default pattern book and propose what might be possible if we could make changes WR WKLV UXOHERRN WKDW ZRXOG PDNH LW ǳW IRU WKH IXWXUH while also recognizing there is a the social, political and economic reality to the system that we operate within. We will look at instances where the typology may adapt (e.g dual-aspect homes) and where the rulebook needs to change (e.g. minimum space standards - is this the right measure and accommodating nature) to achieve a comfortable home for all (or at least the majority).

A COMFORTABLE HOME

LSA | 2021-2022

HOW? The Home Our research will be practical and led by design. Instead of spending months researching academic literature and SODQQLQJ SROLFLHV WR GHǳQH DQ XQLYHUVDO KRPH ZH ZLOO VHHN to design it. We will start from a home and its constituent arrangement of rooms and then look at the building and the journey from the street to the apartment’s door, and DOO WKH VKDUHG VSDFHV ZLWKLQ WKH EXLOGLQJ DQG ǳQDOO\ WKH building’s place in the neighbourhood. At each scale, we will investigate the environmental challenges that homes of today need to face, their diverse prospective residents and the market that makes them happen. We will use the lessons learnt from the process to begin to identify what needs to change for our society to GHOLYHU KRXVLQJ ǳW IRU WKH FOLPDWH HPHUJHQF\ Research will proceed through design and observation, DV DQ H[HUFLVH WKH 'HVLJQ ǸLQN 7DQN ZLOO DSSURDFK WKH GHVLJQ RI WKH KRPH DQG WKH EORFN IURP WKH LQVLGH ǸLV approach will be split into three parts:

Terrassenhaus Berlin Lobe Block by Brandlhuber+ Team. Source: Archdaily 4

ǸH +RPH LQFOXGLQJ LWV DUUDQJHPHQW RI URRPV D balcony or other amenity space, and the location and orientation of windows. We will work generally within the rules that apply to housing in London but we will make a couple of exceptions: All homes will be required to be truly dual-aspect, which means they should have windows on the opposite sides of a building; We will treat the Nationally Described Space Standards as a minimum and as guidance we will DOORZ DQ DGGLWLRQDO LQFUHDVHG RQ WKH PLQLPD ,W should be noted that more space will not always be good, as all space will need to be heated and will for the time being have a carbon content in its creation. Well planned space will always be more useable. 3. We will also consider in more detail the role of the ZRUNSODFH LQ WKH KRPH ZLWK PDQ\ RU HYHQ PRVW RǵFH workers are still working from home for at least part of the week and this has a sopace implication. But also we should consider that other types of work may be possible from home and have always formed part of the home, be it in a form of artist ateliers or weaver cottages.

Westminster Chambers by Banks & Barry. Source: MTWA DESIGN THINK TANK

`The Common stair

The Home in the City

ǸH GHVLJQ RI WKH VKDUHG VSDFHV WKDW FRQQHFW WKH KRPH to the street entrance and which link the homes into a EXLOGLQJ EORFN DQG FRPPXQLW\ ǸHVH VWDUW ZLWK WKH entrance lobby, and stair but include the lift, access decks, communal amenity in courtyards and maybe roof terraces as well as the more mundane things that make the places we live work, such as bin stores, bike stores, post boxes and car parking if we need it.

ǸH ǳQDO VWDJH LV WKH FRQQHFWLRQ EDFN WR WKH FLW\ from front door to street to neighbourhood and city. We ZLOO HYDOXDWH WKH 0LQXWH &LW\ FRQFHSW DQG FRQVLGHU ZKHWKHU LW VXǵFLHQWO\ DGGUHVVHV WKH VSHFLǳF QHHGV RI WKH climate emergency in Rotherhithe.

Lindenstrasse, Berlin by Herman Herzberger. Source: AHH

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A COMFORTABLE HOME

LSA | 2021-2022

WHERE? ǸH RQFH LQGXVWULDO DUHD DURXQG 5RWKHUKLWKH LV LQ WKH PLGVW RI LWV IRXUWK PDMRU WUDQVIRUPDWLRQ ǸLV KLVWRULF ULYHUVLGH YLOODJH ǳUVW WXUQHG LQWR WKH HQJLQH RI the Empire and then a sleepy suburb, is now gradually evolving to become a major town centre focused around Canada Water. Workspaces, leisure and retail venues will co-exist with high-density housing set among retained RU LQǳOOHG GRFNV ǸH GRFNV UHPDLQ DV WKH RQO\ UHPQDQWV of the once mighty industrial centre that catered for the %ULWLVK (PSLUH ǸH ODUJHO\ GHIXQFW DUHD ZDV WXUQHG LQ WKH V LQWR VXEXUELD RI WKUHH RU IRXU VWRUH\ GHYHORSPHQWV that contrast markedly with the towers currently built. It equally contrasts with the type of development seen DFURVV WKH ǸDPHV DURXQG &DQDU\ :KDUI DQG 6RXWK 4XD\V where some of the densest housing ever built is being constructed. We propose to identify a site on the edge of the emerging Canada Water Masterplan, a place where one can still read the multiple layers of Rotherhithe’s transformation. To inform our understanding of the site, we will look at the GLǲHUHQFHV LQ WKH ZD\ WKDW WKH 5RWKHUKLWKH 3HQLQVXOD DQG the Isle of Dogs have developed since the docks closed, and in particular at the contrast between the excesses of South 4XD\V DQG WKH FDU RULHQWDWHG VXEXUELD RI WKH 5RWKHUKLWKH peninsula.

Canada Water Masterplan Source: British Land 6

DESIGN THINK TANK

WHEN? Week 1 A South London housing walk: • Blackfriars Circus • Elephant Park • Varcoe Road • Porter’s Edge Policy research: • */$ /RQGRQ +RXVLQJ 'HVLJQ *XLGH • */$ /RQGRQ 3ODQ +RXVLQJ 4XDOLW\ DQG Standards • /(7, &OLPDWH (PHUJHQF\ 'HVLJQ *XLGH • &RPPLWWHH RQ &OLPDWH &KDQJH Ƭ8. KRXVLQJ )LW for the future?” Week 2 Design exercise: Designing a room Site research: Site appraisal 3. CPD with Maccreanor Lavington staff: TBC Week 3 Design exercise: Designing a home Site research: Site brief 3. CPD with Maccreanor Lavington staff: TBC Week 4 - Symposium 1 ǸHPHV WR SUHVHQW Vision for the home fit for the changing climate Site analysis 3. Spatial and functional building brief

A COMFORTABLE HOME

LSA | 2021-2022

MATERIALS Watching List

Reading List

• 6PLWKVRQ $ 3 7KH 6PLWKVRQV RQ +RXVLQJ https://www.ajholmesrobinhoodgardens.com/thesmithsons-on-housing

• +HUW]EHUJHU + /HVVRQV IRU VWXGHQWV LQ DUFKLWHFWXUH 5RWWHUGDP 8LWJHYHULM 3XEOLVKHUV Harvard

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• /HYLWW ' 0F&DIIHUW\ - 7KH KRXVLQJ GHVLJQ handbook: A guide to good practice.

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• /HXSHQ % +RXVLQJ 'HVLJQ $ 0DQXDO 1$, Publishers • +DQV YDQ GHU +HLMGHQ 3RVW 3LUDHXV $ERXW WKH building site and the city . De Architect • &KULVWRSKHU $OH[DQGHU $ &LW\ LV 1RW D 7UHH ,Q $UFKLWHFWXUDO )RUXP 9RO 1R $SULO SS 3DUW , • %XFKDQDQ 3HWHU 1HLJKERXUKRRG DV ([WHQVLRQ of the Home In: Architectural Review • %XFKDQDQ 3HWHU $UFKLWHFWXUH DQG WKH &LW\ LQ the Emergent Era In: Architektura Murator Plus • 5DWH\ DQG 0DQQLQJ *R :LOG • $XUHOL 3 Y $QG 7DWWDUD 0 3URGXFWLRQ Reproduction: Housing beyond the Family. Harvard 'HVLJQ $YDLODEOH RQOLQH DW KWWS ZZZ KDUYDUGGHVLJQPDJD]LQH RUJ LVVXHV SURGXFWLRQ reproduction-housing-beyond-the-family • (YDQV 5RELQ )LJXUHV 'RRUV DQG 3DVVDJHV LQ LELG 7UDQVODWLRQV IURP 'UDZLQJ WR %XLOGLQJ DQG Other Essays, London: Architectural Association. • +D\GHQ ' 7KH *UDQG 'RPHVWLF 5HYROXWLRQ Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press. • 3UHFLDGR 3DXO % Ƭ3RUQRWRSLD ƭ ,Q &ROG :DU Hothouses: Inventing Postwar Culture, from Cockpit to Playboy, edited by Beatriz Colomina, et al. New <RUN 1< 3ULQFHWRQ $UFKLWHFWXUDO 3UHVV SS Ƨ • 5DZHV 3 +RXVLQJ %LRSROLWLFV DQG &DUH ,Q A. Radman and H. Sohn (eds.) Critical and Clinical Cartographies: Architecture, Robotics, Medicine, 3KLORVRSK\ (GLQEXUJK (GLQEXUJK 8QLYHUVLW\ 3UHVV SS • :LJOH\ 0DUN 8QWLWOHG 7KH +RXVLQJ RI *HQGHU LQ Colombina, ibid.

DESIGN THINK TANK

@VaR @RYRPaV\[ Canada Water Masterplan Illustrative Masterplan from Allies & Morrison Design and Access Statement Volume II, Part 1 of 2

Appendices

Russia Dock Woodland Canada Water Area Action Plan

Southwark Park

Planning Application Boundary Canada Water Area Action Plan 286

Opportunity Area

Appendices

Park Neighbourhood Central Cluster Town Centre

287

Appendices

288

Appendices

289

Site Selection We identified three sites that could both inspire and present constraints substantial enough to challenge and guide the direction of our proposal. Site 1: Surrey Water

Appendices

Site 2: Deal Porters Way, Zone A

Site 3: Deal Porters Way, Zone C

290

Appendices

291

Canada Water Station Appendices

Canada Water

Surrey Quays Station

Proposed High Street Dock Link 292

Green Link

Greenland Dock

Appendices

Zone C: Connectivity Zone C has direct pedestrian access to the newly proposed high street, also linking through the Park Neighbourhood and onto Russia Dock Woodlands. The Thames path is only a 22 minute walk from the plot, whilst two stations sit within a 10 minute walk.

293

Contextual Response All proposed buildings must step down towards the edges of the masterplan boundary, to maintain good levels of sunlight and daylight to neighbouring properties.

Appendices

Cluster Composition The composition of tall building clusters has to be carefully considered in relation to strategic views around the site, while also aiming to organise a locally clustered gathering that outlines a domed formation.

Noise Pollution As Zone C sits on the edge of the masterplan, three of its four facades also sit adjacent to fairly active roads; design that provides acoustic comfort within the homes we propose will be paramount.

294

Daylight The solar gain on plot C of the Canada Water masterplan would receive a high level of natural sunlight due to its positioning to the south of the main ‘town centre’ building cluster.

Appendices

Canada Water Station

Transport Links The plot is well connected, via Overground/Tube links and bus stops on Lower Road taking you both Southbound and Northbound into Central London then East and West for other transportation modes. There will be new roads and cycleways within the masterplan, making this location a prime spot for connections when travelling within and between Rotherhithe and the rest of London.

Surrey Quays Station

London View Management Framework The protected Vista landmark viewing corridor passes over the new masterplan. Plot C narrowly avoids this path, making the site a good location for a taller development than the neighbouring properties. This may increase the potential for more comfortable homes. Furthermore, the London View Management Framework (LVMF) sets a maximum height of 30 metres AOD for the majority of the new Town Centre. The resulting massing sets the scene for medium-rise small-grain spaces that define the commercial heart of the masterplan.

295

Appendices

296

Appendices Ap ppeend ndic ices es

297 297 29

9\[Q\[y` 5\b`V[T @a\PX

6<:05. :;6*2 05 9,(; 90;(05 )@ ;@7, 6- ;,5<9,

130

House price index (2015=100)

125

120

115

110

105

100

Affordability A combination of soaring private rental prices and overall property prices have led to a lot of people being unable to afford a property that they can call home. In addition to this, pay freezes from the pandemic and ongoing inflation have created an even greater gap between income and housing costs, making the notion of ownership over a home a distant fantasy for many. Legend

298

$A90< :..?;40/ &09>0/ ;<4@,>07C ':.4,7 3:?=492 3:?=492 ,==:.4,>4:9 ':.4,7 3:?=492 7:.,7 ,?>3:<4>C $>30<

Ja n '1 Ap 5 r '1 5 Ju l '1 O 5 ct '1 Ja 5 n '1 Ap 6 r '1 6 Ju l '1 O 6 ct '1 Ja 6 n '1 Ap 7 r '1 7 Ju l '1 O 7 ct '1 Ja 7 n '1 Ap 8 r '1 8 Ju l '1 O 8 ct '1 Ja 8 n '1 Ap 9 r '1 9 Ju l '1 O 9 ct '1 Ja 9 n '2 Ap 0 r '2 0 Ju l '2 O 0 ct '2 Ja 0 n '2 1

Monthly Housing Price Index

Appendices

Average Rental Cost Per Borough For 3 Bed Flat

Current Housing Stock London has a housing crisis. The homes available are too expensive to rent or buy and the more affordable dwellings are unfit for people to live and now work in.

£2100+ £1700-£2150 £1500-£1750 Under £1500

Distribution of housing stock 250,000 people are now on the waiting list for council housing. After the Right To Buy initiative was put forward by Margaret Thatcher, people could buy the council home they lived in. Unfortunately, the government didn’t replace the stock that was sold during this period, leading to a severe drop in available council-owned dwellings.

Total Net Delivery Of Homes Financial Year (1 April to 31 March)

No. of homes (self-contained, nonconventional units and empty homes back into use)

Mayor of London's annual housing

target (year of London Plan version)

" #

2004/2005

2146

1480 (2004)

2005/2006

1916

1480 (2004)

2006/2007

2396

1480 (2004)

% " # ! $

2007/2008

1874

1630 (2008) #

2008/2009

1325

1630 (2008)

2009/2010

1546

1630 (2008)

# !

2010/2011

1803

1630 (2008)

2011/2012

1460

2005 (2011)

$ (

2012/2013

1723

2005 (2011)

! )

2013/2014

1876

2005 (2011)

2014/2015

2234

2005 (2011)

& +

2015/2016

2082

2736 (2015)

2016/2017

2689

2736 (2015)

2017/2018

936

2736 (2015)

2018/2019

3615

2736 (2015)

2019/2020

2020

2355 (2021)

Total

31,641

Average per year

1,978

Appendices

# (

" ! # * # " , ! -

" -

! + .

/..

0...

0/..

1...

1/..

2...

2/..

Targets not being hit The London Plan 2021 sets a 10-year target of 23,550, equating to 2,355 homes per year for Southwark. Based on historical figures, it seems unlikely that this target will be met year-on-year.

299

.[ 2c\YcV[T Af]\Y\Tf

China — 2000BC

Greece — 1200BC

Turkey — 500BC

Appendices Italy — 200AD

Canada — 500AD

China — 1400AD

Japan — 1600AD

300

Scotland — 1900AD

Italy — 1600AD

Ghana — 1700AD

USA — 1935AD

Austria — 1935AD

Cameroon — 2000AD

Japan — 2000AD

England — 2000AD

Appendices

Ways of Living There are an uncountable range of lifestyles around the world. Here we examine the spatial implications of a few of these lifestyles, investigating how they negotiate the architectural landscape of housing.

1:1000 0

50M

1:500 0

25M

301

British Housing Chronology Although presented chronologically, these plans are not intended to be a comprehensive historical survey. They are instead touchstones that outline the development of the social and spatial constructs of British housing.

3000BC

500BC

pantry

hall buttery hall

1100AD

Houses of Britain Perhaps the caves and crannogs of preindustrial dwellers are not as pertinent to critiques of contemporary housing as later structures, but their depiction here emphasises the house’s transition from a place of shelter to a symbol of status.

302

Bronze and iron age dwellings would often house 15-30 people at any one time, being used for all variety of communal activity around a central hearth; divisions of class were not expressed spatially.

screens passage

Appendices

10000BC

dais/ solar/ parlour hall

1200AD

1300AD

The Middle Ages saw social divisions gradually develop. These manifested spatially within the house through learned behaviour and the specific positioning of furniture. The phrase ‘chairman of the board’ originates from this latter division, with the communal table (board) having a singular chair for the man of the house and a series of stools for lowly peasants.

withdrew from the great hall into a series of more private rooms that were inaccessible to their servants, though these were surprisingly not rooms specifically for sleeping at first — this still occurred in the hall. An ever-increasing culture of privacy and segregation was spurred by the Norman introduction of castles to the British housing landscape, with these marking a clear delineation between an Earl’s family and their servants — often housing over 100 people at any one time.

As class divisions widened, physical boundaries emerged. The upper classes

hall

Appendices

1500AD

These sprawling room structures allowed homeowners to flaunt their wealth and status. This nesting of privacy, layering of thresholds, and resultant spatial control was taken to the extreme at Hampton Court Palace (above). The tradition of court was so entrenched in society at this time that Kings and Queens retained 2 bedrooms each: one public, one private. More and more functions were extracted from the Great

Hall, with the smoky, smelly and unsightly kitchens even being thrust as far as possible from the more prestigious and oddly public living quarters. This dispersal of functions from the hall was the beginning of its transformation into the hallway that we are familiar with today. This transition did not happen until the 18th century, with typical house plans of the 17th century still having rooms as thoroughfares that linked to one another.

303

morning room

wash kitchen kitchen

kitchen

wash

W.C.

bed hall

pantry

bed

living

dining room

parlour

bedroom

library hall

Appendices

1800AD

1850AD

1920AD

store

living W.C.

kitchen

kitchen parlour

dining

living

hall dining bedroom

living room

garage

304

1930AD

1950AD

1960AD

The Working Classes Even into the 19th and 20th centuries, privacy was very much a social construct that only the wealthiest in society could afford to abide by. Dwellers in poorer areas of Britain were still living and sleeping in a single room with up to 10 other people, akin to a medieval hall.

to pack many people into a small built area, often leading to whole families living under one roof in very dark and cramped conditions and with poor sanitary standards — as if a twisted precursor to today’s cohousing models.

functions and associated rules governed gender roles within the house, with rooms and circulation structured to uphold patriarchal control. Robert Kerr45 innocently framed this in ‘The Gentleman’s House’, stating simply that privacy should be the primary concern of housing design.

The ‘back-to-back’ housing of industrial areas like Leeds still had shared areas for cooking, washing and defecating. These arrangements of shared facilities aimed

Around the same time, the proliferation of courtesy books and etiquette mantras meant the middle and upper classes had an excessive number of living rooms, each with a different function. These

Room names and functions have become simplified in the decades since, but stagnated on a normative series of spaces based on the needs of the nuclear family.

Appendices

dining room

kitchen

store

living room

hall

W.C.

1970AD

Legacy Housing The programmatic divisions of privacy, class and gender that have developed within the British domestic are still extant in the housing stock that we occupy today. Why must a diverse fabric of dwellers such as that of London be constrained by these Eurocentrically normative and outdated ways of living? Should they not be afforded the ability to attain comfort through choice, rather than being merely tolerant of the conditions that they are handed?

Today's mass housing ]_\cVQR` `]RPVžP `]NPR` S\_ [\[ `]RPVžP ]R\]YR

305

=_RPRQR[a @abQVR` Dapperbuurt Housing Duinker van der Torre

Appendices

These dwellings, accessed in groups of three through an external entryway and associated landing, are each organised around a central core. This is located slightly off-centre, so spaces of varying dimensions are created around it. The core also incorporates a series of sliding partitions, allowing the dwelling’s occupants to alter the arrangement of spaces freely when needed. A level of polyvalence is offered by the ‘shortcut’ past the wet area within the core; it is possible to access each space by two different routes.

Natal Frits van Dongen

306

Here the central core has been placed exactly at the centroid of the plan. This leaves enough space on either façade for a living area or two sleeping spaces, separated visually by the core. An interesting concept illustrated in one of van Dongen’s potential layouts involves introducing a door whose two sides can be accessed without passing through the door itself or any other thresholds; it forms a physical separation that is discernible only when within either of the zones immediately adjacent to it.

Domus Demain Yves Lion + Francois Leclercq

Appendices

Dual aspect through flats typically lend themselves to cores located along the flanking party walls, or detached from these and often positioned centrally within the dwelling. Here, service zones are positioned along the line of the façade, integrating the two to form a singular unified system. The intended outcome is to provide optimum free space within the central zone of the plan, with all service elements extracted from the living space. Perhaps marginally too exhibitionist in style, it appears to be a radical approach that has not been replicated or realised elsewhere.

Sempacherstrasse Housing Miller Maranta

The fragmentation of this four-story structure enables the apartments to be exposed to daylight on several sides. The form can be read as a series of interlocking T-shaped flats, each shifted alternately and perpendicularly from the centreline of the block. Cutting a shaft into the widest part of these plans to offer an external amenity compresses the circulation space that leads to the rooms either side, introducing a certain level of privacy.

307

Aula Modula studio BELEM

Appendices

Reassessing the residential model in the age of at-home work, studio BELEM conceptualises a highly flexible, bookable space for distributed workers. They propose a much more flexible architecture in which boundaries between public and private, professional and personal are fluid. Proceeding with a notion aligned with ongoing societal changes, future living spaces must be free of appropriation and pre-established functions. Each apartment has the option of an add-on workplace module, which can be isolated from the rest of the apartment. While domestic life faces towards the city, professional life is directed towards a shared courtyard and terraces to encourage interaction.

Homes for Senior Citizens Peter Zumthor

308

Zumthor’s senior citizens homes are a series of living spaces which all feed into a communal circulation space spanning the entire frontage of the scheme. Encouraged to fill this space with furniture and plants, its inhabitation results in the creation of an informal living room shared between all residents.

Table Top Apartments Kwong Von Glinow

Appendices

These apartments use a system of modules based on the form of stacking table tops to generate towers with setbacks and cascading balconies. This system is not only flexible to accommodate various scales, but is also adaptable to various unit combinations. It emerges from the use of a few simple modular elements which aggregate to create a new mode of living between the inhabitants, their neighbours and the public. A simple storefront glazing system mediates between the interior and exterior, while private spaces and bathrooms are enclosed in wood. The use of three different unit shapes, which are deliberately misaligned when stacked, create apertures in the slab between units. The resulting balconies create a space for public circulation.

Fukuoka Housing Steven Holl

Folding, rotating, sweeping, collapsible surfaces act as both temporary and semi-permanent partitions — as both walls and doors. The paths they sweep out are quite intrusive on the space.

309

Haarlemmer Houttuinen Housing Herman Hertzberger

Appendices

This Hertzberger project in Amsterdam provides a great example of architectural design being used to encourage social interaction. A series of shared terraces act as spaces for interaction and inhabitation. Neighbours pass and talk, they fill the terraces and doorways with plants, bikes and other objects and offer a sense of security to the street. Ultimately, the entrance design allows for the projection of personal identity onto these intermediate spaces, a key characteristic in the success of the frontage.

Kassel Housing Herman Hertzberger

310

Kassel housing provides another example of Hertzberger’s use of intermediate spaces and zoning opportunities. At the centre of the scheme, a shared stair connects all three floors, each serving two flats. These two flats then have a sense of ownership and responsibility over the terrace directly outside their front door, allowing them to inhabit and look after this space. Furthering this sense of ownership and control over space, the plans are designed in a way that allows the living spaces such as the kitchens, living rooms and balconies to look into this shared core.

A Long House David Leech

Appendices

Deriving its form from the ‘Clachan’ type of housing found throughout rural Ireland, David Leech Architects’ Long House is a dwelling as wide as one room with an additional circulation space running in parallel. This circulation space creates an interesting element. Primarily it is a circulation space, the long corridor invites the resident or visitor to move through, drawing them to the main living room at the end. Its additional width allows for it to be inhabited, essentially forming a room that connects to all parts of the dwelling, enhancing and romanticising the act of progressing through each of the spaces This is further enhanced by the space's direct connection to the outside.

Sivill House Berthold Lubetkin

311

House for Artists Apparata Architects

Appendices

Apparata Architects’ House for Artists aims to support artistic communities both inside the building and within the local area, through shared entrance patios and courtyard, and a street-facing public space. Apparata Architects wanted to differ from typical UK flat layouts which are restricted in flexibility due to one-way escape routes and corridors that cannot be altered. The dualaspect layout eliminates the need for internal corridors, freeing up the floor plans for modification. The structural composition of each flat also encourages residents to add to and adapt their apartments during their tenancy, removing or adding walls to meet their needs.

Sorte Hus Sigurd Larsen

312

A very open plan type of house layout, simply a large open plan kitchen/living/dining space with 3 bedrooms sandwiching a bathroom. Dual aspect with a side top light to the west of plan that takes advantage of the natural warm dayylight.

Antwerp Harbour Building Sergison Bates

The long shape of this flat plan makes for a long and grand space with a lot of room for amenities and storage. The flat is dual aspect from the social space kitchen/living/diner. There are secluded private spaces for the core, bathroom and storage. Appendices

— Variety of space sizes — Mixture of private and social spaces — Allows natural light (however with the long plan natural light may be lost towards central space) — Uses angle of geometry to separate space functions in open plan

McGrath Road Peter Barber

This compact flat layout of McGrath road is an example of a house; the essential space of a house can be fulfilled to create a “comfortable space”- all essential amenities included whilst keeping dual access.

313

Van B UN Studio

Appendices

As a prototype for modern city dwelling, Van B has been designed to cater to changing demographics in family constellations. The design considers the changing ways in which we use our houses since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. The Van B plugin system allows residents to easily change the use of the same floor space in a matter of seconds, making it possible to transform a room from an office into a living room or bedroom. This creates the possibility of reconfiguring the apartment to the user’s immediate needs.

La Balma Collective Housing Lacol & LaBoqueria

314

Considering the flexibility of an apartment in the long term, La Balma Collective Housing has been designed in a way to allow inhabitants to expand their home within the apartment block, just as a detached house owner could do. The basic unit can be expanded from an ‘I’ shaped double unit to an ‘L’ shaped extended unit with an adjacent studio flat.

Very Social Housing Leth & Gori

Appendices

The layout of the internal spaces of a typical apartment within ‘Very Social Housing’ collects the utilities together to give the user the ability to adapt their individual home to different situations or phases in life. The dual aspect layout and ‘en-suite disposition’ of spaces enables the inhabitants to configure the spaces to their individual needs without specifically prescribed spaces. There are informal meeting areas and balconies stemming off communal stairways which create a second layer to the home, before the inhabitant travels downstairs and outside into the public realm.

Alternative Layout Design in Standard Housing Dos Arquitectos

This competition project by Dos Arquitectos reconsiders standard housing and the fixed rooms used in current housing design. Instead of fixed spaces, a system of sliding doors has been introduced to increase the flexibility of the internal spaces and allow total/partial divisions and customisation of spaces.

315

Cadet L’Atelier

Appendices

The typology of the plan gives a lot of potential. The property consists of three rooms, each of them independent of each other and each of them with a clearly defined activity: living, sleeping and services. The project highlights how to prioritise activities within a home whilst experimenting with geometry to make the most of each space effectively. Creating a diagonal wall between the kitchen and bathroom makes two punctual intensely narrow moments of 50cm, allowing the rest of the program more space.

Brusilia L’Atelier

316

To balance the interior spaces of this loft, two specific and radical actions are implemented. First, all non-structural interior walls of the apartment are removed in order to set the condition of the apartment: a space suspended in the air, subjugated by a view. Second, a multiform furniture is inserted and along with it three other static pieces of fixed furniture. Their position and interaction generate the conditions for use, subdivision and composition of the apartment in a variety of ways.

House of Rolf Studio Rolf.fr + Niek Wagemans

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‘House of Rolf ’ is an ambitious transformation of a late nineteenth century coach house into a home and workspace. The materials used to carry out this transformation originated from a demolished office building that was located next to the coach house. To use of volume within the space is based on adapting this simple structure and dividing into 3 zones each consisting of 2 bays. The first zone is left completely empty so that the original coach house can be fully experienced. The middle zone contains a structure that stands completely free from the coach house shell so that you can easily look beyond it from the first zone. This second section of the space houses the kitchen, bedroom, toilet, shower, bath and office. This functional object simultaneously divides as well as connects the space.

Tel Aviv Apartment SFARO

An incredibly compact plan — 40sqm. There is a risk here that a ‘360 degree’ circulation might make living spaces feel like circulation rather than the circulation feel like a new living space.

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Hoxton Press David Chipperfield

Appendices

Hoxton Press is a scheme that prioritises sunlight, ventilation and views through all inhabitable rooms. The structure of the building allows for relatively unobstructed views out, especially in the living spaces. In order to achieve this, the services are pushed to the centre of the plan, away from any light, air or views. At the ‘core’ of the scheme is the shared circulation space with no apparent access to light or natural ventilation. The scheme presents itself as a very private, dividing block of flats, with little provision for cross-dwelling interaction.

Golden Lane Estate Chamberlin, Powell and Bon

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The Golden Lane Estate provides picturesque maisonettes. On the ground floor one space exists encompassing kitchen, dining and living. The front of the dwelling has a large, double-height glazed façade, offering little privacy for the living spaces or the upstairs landing. This large amount of glazing cause the dwellings to be very thermally inefficient, overheating during hotter periods of the year and losing a lot of heat during colder ones.

Casa de la Marina Josep Antoni Coderch

Though Robin Hood Gardens saw the realisation of many of the Smithsons’ ideologies surrounding architecture, the city and dwelling, Robin Hood Gardens overall presents an example of an unsuccessful housing scheme. Flats are deliberately laid out so that living spaces are located on the side of the decks facing the noisy Blackwall Tunnel, while bedrooms faced inwards towards the shared green. The development allowed the Smithsons to utilise their ideas surrounding ‘streets in the sky’ through the creation of wide access decks servicing all of the flats above ground floor level. This provides an alternative example to that of the Hertzberger examples, gaining access to a large number of flats all the way along the length of the building. This ‘street’ was never realised, as the Smithsons' design led it to mostly be left empty and unused. Parallels can be drawn to similar issues at Pruitt Igoe, where large shared decks and spaces became rundown and host to antisocial behaviour; residents did not take ownership of the space (or feel able to) due to its size.

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Robin Hood Gardens Alison and Peter Smithson

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Blackwall Reach Phase II Client: Swan Housing Group Location: The London Borough of Tower Hamlets

This design scheme retains the mound existing on the site and looks to create a more accessible way to get to the top of it. The key to this feature is the variety of users it can cater for, whether used for a playful fun activity or fitness, there are many ways to make use of this monument in this project. There are also relaxation areas on different levels in this scheme. The successful mixed community atmosphere of this project can be used as a case study, creating an environment where more user groups want to experience the courtyard.

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Defensible space

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Blackwall Reach Regeneration Project is a major residential led development of the Robin Hood Garden Estate. This proposal aimed to create an improved environment for the residents- old and new. Phase 2 includes a comprehensive play strategy, community garden, street typologies, along with street furniture, paving, planting and lighting strategies. The design includes rain gardens (SuDS) and a green, attractive setting for the new residential buildings as well as a valuable amenity for the whole estate and wider community. This method of community inclusion is a key factor of good social design where a space isn’t overrided by one user type i.e. kids or teens, however it should be balanced to make it “comfortable”. Space planning for a mix of users

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List of Key Community Amenities: • • • • •

Courtyard Garden Community Garden Play Teenage Play Outdoor Gym

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Wembley High Road, Cecil Avenue Client: Brent Council Location: The London Borough of Brent

At the centre of the scheme, an array of trees in canopy fashion line up near to the front entrance like guiding urbansm, protecting the main entrance from public route into the centered courtyard green space, landscaped with a scatplants, seating and different environments for respite and play. The site constraints includi a 7m level change from north-to-south follow up with a a diverse set of edge conditions, such as; high street to the north, low-rise terraced housing to the east and a secondary school to the south.

+7M

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Defensible & Segmented space Transitional space from public to private pros: 1.Security 2.A sense of ownership 3.Prevent tresspass 4.Natural playable landscape cons: 5.Difficulty in moving into courtyard 6.Dark space under main entrance underpass (Could attract “thieves”) 7.Lack of space variety (small to large for different number of users)

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Maiden Lane estate initial circulation map The problems are identified in this extract of hillier-etal89maidenlane documment pp. 14

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