A Place to Call Home

How does the project address the Liveness Charter aims?

Co-production

The project briefs of our students' projects are informed through the early-stage Housing Symposium presentation from SYHA. Over the years, SYHA have contributed to mid-project  design reviews, helping the students reflect upon their emerging designs. 

Final projects have also be shared at SYHA's offices, allowing the students a platform to showcase their work to a wider audience. 

Sustainable

All student projects must enable low carbon living and our students present strategies that demonstrate how technical and environmental issues underpin the development of their design. Through engagement with SYHA, this is to both reduce embodied and operational carbon as well as confront economic issues of fuel poverty. 

Car-sharing schemes, cycle storage and integrated adjacent urban design strategies further ensure that the projects respond to the urgent issues of the climate emergency.   

Experimental

At their heart, all Year 2 social housing projects foster a sense of inclusivity, providing housing that seeks to empower their users and helping support a sense of community. 

The long-term relationship with SYHA is built on a premise of mutual respect that begins with students listening to and acknowledging the established expertise of this social housing provider. In their design responses, students seeks to embody the knowledge gained from SYHA into the design responses.   

Meaningful

The collaboration with SYHA and Year 2 students is based on a relationhip of mutual respect and has allowed us various opportunities for mutual learning. From the students' perspective, this is first-hand experience of working with an established and enlightened social housing provider; from SYHA's perspective, this has been through the wide range of student responses that seek to challenge the status quo.