Our research focuses on homes built by local councils in England and Wales between 1920 and 1940.
Despite being carefully designed and constructed with the best materials and knowledge at the time, challenges are now associated with these homes. A lack of investment and changes in technologies and the way we live and work, mean that they can fail to meet expectations and needs.
The Transforming Homes consortium is tackling these challenges through architectural design, biobased, recycled and reused materials and low carbon technologies. Through co-design and design research activities we are developing ways to create healthy, sustainable homes for current and future generations.
Sustaining a dynamic ecosystem to co-design and transform existing 1920-1940 council-built homes.
Engaging the community and residents in the design process to share knowledge and shape designs.
Combining architectural design, bio-based, recycled and re-used materials, and low carbon technologies in design solutions.
Creating a design catalogue to inspire the transformation of 1920-1940 homes, providing supporting evidence for decision making.
Implementing transformation through demonstration homes in Bristol and Swansea to showcase design solutions.
Collaborating with stakeholders to develop, implement, and scale sustainable home transformation.
Sharing our research findings widely and supporting training activities to help reduce the design skills gap in home transformation.
Residents, industry, local authorities, social housing, community and not-for profit organisations and researchers are all part of our interdisciplinary ecosystem.
Through co-design we are frequently bringing together members of the ecosystem to work together to create solutions. This helps to remove assumptions, embedding lived experience from the outset.
Design research uses information from co-design activities and other research to iteratively improve design to solve the challenges we are facing.
Working through co-design and design research is essential for delivering solutions that are accepted, practical to implement, appropriate for the type of housing and can be delivered at scale.
The Transforming Homes consortium seeks to influence policy, catalyse behavioural change and deliver social, economic and environmental benefits.
We aim to:
