Architects Aware! Think Tank Launch

Architects Aware is a new think tank of built environment professionals that aims to tackle design and policy-based solutions for the UK homelessness crisis. Join founding members and visiting professionals for a panel discussion with a welcome note from Jon Snow and Q&A at William Road Gallery to celebrate its launch.

The panel discussion forms part of a private viewing of artist Johanna Melvin's exhibition titled 'Hidden Homeless', in collaboration with New Horizon Youth Centre. More than 200 of Johanna's works will be exhibited in the gallery and proceeds from some of the specially commissioned postcard works will be donated to the New Horizon Youth Centre.

Architects Aware! Aims

A London-based think tank of built environment professionals, including architects, developers, policy makers and charities, has been launched to explore design and policy-based solutions to the UK homelessness crisis. In particular, the group of experts will address the fundamental need to provide well-designed, fit-for-purpose and safe emergency, short-stay and move-on accommodation which will help the UK’s rising numbers of homeless people away from homelessness for good.

The initiative, Architects Aware!, is founded by Heather Macey, Associate at John McAslan + Partners, and has 19 founding members from organisations across the built environment sector. These include: Deborah Halling, Senior Policy Officer (Housing + Land) at Greater London Authority; John Stiles, Quality & Design Manager at TFL; Phil Kerry, Chief Executive at New Horizon Youth Centre charity; and Miranda McLaren, Director at Morris + Company architects. Other organisations involved include London School of Architecture, and planning consultants DP9.

An immediate focus for the think tank is the lack in centralised policy, of design guidelines or legislation for emergency, shortstay and move-on accommodation; a policy gap the organisation believes is hindering important projects being procured for the estimated 400,000 homeless people sleeping rough, in hostels, shelters or temporary accommodation, or sofa surfing around the UK. Whilst good examples of short-term sheltered accommodation do exist, new-build specialist facilities focussing on space for recovery and sustaining a life away from homelessness do not meet demand, and more frequently, conversions of existing buildings are created in haste to meet temporary accommodation demands. The resulting built environments do not meet the physical, emotional and psychological needs of those needing space and support to leave homelessness behind them for good. AA! aims to tackle this issue by producing a series of design guidelines which will: 

• Set minimum space standards for building different tenures of homeless accommodation with support facilities
• Improve quality of design and offer transparency for future projects
• Support the funding, management and procurement of future schemes
• Offer innovative ways to integrate accommodation with other uses
• Aid integration of homeless people into everyday living

 A longer-term objective of the group is to lobby for these design guidelines to be integrated into existing planning policy such as Section 106 agreements, relating to community contributions.

Three of the architects involved in the initiative, Morris + Company, Catja De Haas, and RCKa, are the winner, and runners up, for the Hidden Homeless Competition in 2018. This initiative by John McAslan + Partners in collaboration with London’s New Horizon Youth Centre (NHYC), that provided the springboard for Architects Aware!. The competition, which tasked architects with designing innovative short-term emergency accommodation solutions for homeless young people, highlighted to Macey the lack of join-up within the built environment sector for cross-industry solutions to tackle homelessness.

The homeless monitor shows that temporary accommodation placements have risen by 71% from 2011, and that last year, 200,000 people were reported living in temporary accommodation. This does not however account for the estimated additional 40% of hidden homeless, not reported. The think tank’s first public event will be a panel discussion and private viewing of artist Johanna Melvin’s exhibition titled ‘Hidden Homeless’ at John McAslan + Partner’s gallery on William Road, London on Wednesday 26 February 2020.

Architects Aware! Ethos

Architects Aware! (AA!) finds the current situation for homeless people unacceptable and accepts responsibility that more can and should be done by built environment organisations to change this. It is founded on the belief that while building more truly affordable housing is the long-term solution to the housing crisis, one challenge that must be addressed in the immediate term is the fundamental need to provide fit for purpose, safe and secure emergency, temporary, and move on accommodation, to ensure that vulnerable people without a place to call home have somewhere to go. Architects Aware! brings together a partnership of experts in the field of housing and homelessness to engage in learning, research and design solutions, to achieve real change to this situation.

The key aims of the group are:

1. To research individual homeless groups needs to identify target groups

2. Explore design and policy based solutions to the homeless crisis

3. Create a set of “design guidelines” for providing homeless accommodation with associated facilities

4. Establish business strategies to define how homeless accommodation could co-exist with other uses

5. Collaborate with a wide group of industry leaders

Founding Members of Architects Aware!:

• Heather Macey, Associate at John McAslan + Partners (founder)
• Phil Kerry, Chief Executive at New Horizon Youth Centre
• Miles Delap, Board Partner at Gardiner + Theobald • Alexia Murphy, Executive Director of Operations at De Paul
• Deborah Halling, Senior Policy Officer of Housing + Land at Greater London Authority
• Mark Baigent, Director at GLA Place
• John Stiles, Quality & Design Manager at TFL
• Tom Sweetman, Director at DP9
• Chris Stephens, Founder at Social Capital Partners
• James Reid, Founder at Tutus House
• Paul Morrish, Chief Executive at LandAid
• Amos Goldreich, Director at Amos Goldreich Architecture
• Catja de Haas, Founder at Catja de Haas Architects and the Giant Dolls’ House Project
• Chris Hildrey, Founder at Hildrey Studio and ProxyAddress
• Dieter Kleiner, Director at RCKa Architects
• Miranda McLaren, Director at Morris + Company
• Polina Pencheva, Associate at Morris + Company
• Jay Morton, Associate at Bell Phillips Architects
• Eradicating Homelessness, Design Think Tank, London School of Architecture