Housing Standardisation: Who Designs Our Homes and How Do We Live? (Event 3)

Join us on Wednesday, 29 January 2025, for a discussion on affordable housing: What is ‘good’ design? How can it be delivered?

The event marks the closing of the exhibition Housing Standardisation: Who Designs Our Homes and How Do We Live? at the Building Centre. This exhibition explores recently built housing in England, Chile, China, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Spain, analysing their diverse housing systems and provisions through 37 in-depth case studies of affordable homes. It focuses on the experiences and everyday lives of residents, examining how design governance, housing standards, socio-cultural expectation, and home use shape perceptions of ‘well-designed’ and ‘affordable’ homes – and how these are highly contextual.

The exhibition is the result of the three-year Arts and Humanities Research Council-funded project 'Housing Standardisation: The Architecture of Regulations and Standards'.

Co-organised with the Architecture Foundation, this finissage is the third of three events in January with housing practitioners, discussing how housing design, standards, policy, and quality relate to affordability, equity, and lived experiences. Despite extensive standardisation and regulation, both the realities and perceptions of housing and design quality vary significantly across regions, countries, and households, affecting housing outcomes and wellbeing.

Speakers will talk about their work in relation to the exhibition, followed by a roundtable discussion.

Speakers:

 Alex Ely (Founding Director, Mae Architects)

Mellis Haward (Director, Archio Architects)

Elanor Warwick (Head of Strategic Policy and Research, Clarion Housing Group)

 Rupesh Varsani (Development Director, Berkeley Group)

Esther Kurland (Director, Urban Design London)

Rachel Hutchison (Senior Programme Manager, Place & Infrastructure, Design Council Homes Taskforce)

Mark Tuff (Partner, Sergison Bates architects)

 Moderator: Matthew Blunderfield (The Architecture Foundation)

Time and Venue

Date: Wednesday, 29 January 2025

Time: 6:00–8:00 pm

Location: The Building Centre (Seminar Room A&B), 26 Store St, London WC1E 7BT

Guided Exhibition Tour

The exhibition curators, Sam Jacoby and Lucia Alonso from the Royal College of Art, will offer a free guided tour of the exhibition in the Window Gallery of the Building Centre before the roundtable, starting at 5:00 pm.

Tickets:

Regular Price = £7.50

Student Price = £5 (Use the code HOUSINGSTUDENT at the checkout)

Accessibility: 

If you have any questions regarding the accessibility of the venue, please email amy@architecturefoundation.org.uk