Interior complex: Design standardization in London’s housing

This thesis studies design standardization in London’s housing, understood as an interrelated set of standards and conventions that shape design outcomes towards specific forms. Working iteratively between theory and data, the thesis threads broader issues in housing – housing design, design governance, design quality – with an empirical study of housing designs in London at the dwelling unit scale. Integrating literatures on housing policy and regulation, real estate, state-market relationships, architectural practice, standards and conventions, the thesis conceptualizes design standardization. The empirical focus of the thesis is London’s housing stock and its residents’ experiences and practices of home. To this end, the thesis draws from a mixed methods research that consists of a descriptive statistical analysis of the spatial patterns in a sample of unit plans from inner London’s housing stock (n=3,438), visual analysis of comparative floor plan matrices, an online survey with people living in London on their experience and use of their homes (n=234) and follow-up semi-structured interviews with some survey participants (n=22). Built largely over the last two hundred years, London’s housing stock contains a variety of housing typologies. While new housing typologies designed for changing needs have emerged, older housing stock has been modified, subdivided, and converted. The research shows that existing housing interiors, in aggregate form evidence processes of standardization. Dwellings built in the past forty years, since the 1980s, show a high level of repetition in their dimensions and interior layouts. I argue this as the result of on the one hand a high-pressure housing market, a perpetual housing shortage and high land prices that all lead the market to function with strict design conventions, and on the other legislations, regulations, codes, and guidelines central and local governments introduce to sustain quality, affordability, and access. Dwellings from the older housing stock – terraced houses – show a wide variety of interior layouts. Despite this, however, there are spatial and organizational directions that emerge at the intersection of the architectural affordances of terraced houses, social change, asset-based welfare and permitted development. Based on a study of residents’ experiences and domestic practices in relation to design patterns observed in London’s housing, the research also found that existing housing does not sufficiently meet current needs, preferences and occupancy patterns. The assumptions of use and home underlying standards and conventions fail to acknowledge changing domestic needs. The thesis, studying London’s housing at their intersection, makes original contributions to architectural design, housing studies, infrastructure studies, and material geographies by developing a design standardization framework that incorporates standards and conventions, by constructing a novel dataset of existing housing stock and providing up-to-date data on the housing designs, by analysing residents’ domestic experiences and practices in London, and by analysing home alterations from a socio-technical perspective

The design of subsidized housing: Towards an interdisciplinary and cross-national research agenda

Comparative housing studies traditionally focus on housing systems and social or economic policy, only rarely considering design issues. Through an examination of subsidized housing and its design in 20 countries, this paper explores how design research can benefit cross-national housing studies. Subsidized housing is essential to delivering decent and affordable homes, underpinning the right to housing. To relate design dimensions to housing systems, the analytical focus is on regulatory instruments, technical standards, and socio-spatial practices as well as housing providers, tenures, and target groups. Design research benefits the contextualization of housing systems and design outcomes in several ways. It reveals the contextual and contingent nature of regulatory cultures and instruments, socio-technical norms and standards, and socio-cultural expectations and practices that shape housing solutions. The paper concludes by considering productive ways architectural design research might contribute to an interdisciplinary housing research agenda by offering new means of theorization and analysis beyond traditional housing system typologies

Changing socio-spatial definitions of sufficiency of home: evidence from London (UK) before and during the Covid-19 stay-at-home restrictions

In this paper, we explore how London residents understand, live, and experience their dwellings. Growing evidence shows that existing housing stock in the UK performs poorly in terms of functionality and flexibility. Policy and planning debates focus on the potential benefits of introducing standards for dwelling size while engaging less with broader questions of how to develop standards. Drawing on an online survey (n = 234) and in-depth interviews (n = 22) concerned with experiences of housing, we explore Londoners’ understandings of housing design sufficiency. Our findings show that experiences of dwellings, and understandings of those dwellings as sufficient for occupants’ needs, vary by household type and dwelling occupancy patterns. Moreover, social constructions of dwelling sufficiency are related not only to the size of dwellings, as often described and conceptualised by housing authorities in the UK, but also to the type, form, and layout of rooms. We further show that stay-at-home restrictions imposed in response to the Covid-19 pandemic challenged understandings of dwelling size and dwelling sufficiency. This prompts a discussion of the assumptions made in UK housing design regarding dwelling use, dwelling users, and future housing

Dwelling size and usability in London: A study of floor plan data using machine learning

Based on a dataset of dwelling unit plans (n = 2283) with detailed dimensions derived from open-access plan data using machine learning, this paper analyses the size and usability of dwellings in London. Half of London’s housing stock was built before the Second World War but has been extensively modified. Due to greater pressure on the housing market and problems with dwelling size, London was the first local authority in England to reintroduce space standards for all housing sectors in 2011. Providing a first comprehensive analysis of space standards and dwelling size in London at room level and across all built periods, the data shows that 61% of London homes fail the recommended minimum dwelling sizes of the London Housing Design Guide (2010), 51% a bedroom standard and 88% at least one of the dimensional requirements. The paper quantifies the extent to which homes fail both recent and historical space standards and discusses their effectiveness in relation to dwelling usability and issues of design

Responsible AI: In art and design higher education

This report presents the findings of a study conducted in Spring 2024, which aimed to identify the challenges and opportunities posed by AI in art and design higher education, especially at the RCA. It examined the uses, expectations, and needs for the responsible use of AI at the RCA through a survey, structured interviews, and workshops with staff and students

Inner London Dwelling Dimensions Dataset, 2017-2018

This is the dwelling dimensions dataset referred to in Özer, Seyithan, 'Interior Complex: Design Standardization in London's Housing', PhD diss., Royal College of Art, 2021. The dataset contains dimensional and spatial data derived from a sample of housing floor plans collected from inner London (n=2,007). The initial sample of 5,278 dwelling unit plans were converted into dimensional and numerical data using machine learning algorithms provided by two companies, Archilogic and Archilyse. The floor plans were first digitized with the machine learning-based algorithm Archilyse provided, and then the data was extracted from these models with the algorithm Archilyse provided

Space standards in affordable housing in England

This paper examines the state of affordable housing in England, with a focus on regional variations in space standards and standardized dwelling layouts widely used by volume housebuilders. Space standards are not statutory and therefore adopted inconsistently across development types or building typologies in England. The study draws on data obtained from planning applications, analysing 153 housing developments and 9876 newly constructed affordable housing units from different regions in England that were completed and marketed in 2021. Based on this, the study compares space standards and their effectiveness as well as the use of standardized unit types. The analysis reveals that apart from London, the most recent Nationally Described Space Standard (2015) is not yet widely used. Instead, Housing Quality Indicators that preceded the new national standards continue to be the norm for houses built outside of London. The findings demonstrate that there is a high level of standardization in affordable housing in terms of dwelling size and layout, with widely used standard house types often determining the design and size of dwellings more than space standards

Dataset for dwelling size and usability in London: a study of floor plan data using machine learning

Based on a dataset of dwelling unit plans (n = 2283) with detailed dimensions derived from open-access plan data using machine learning, this paper analyses the size and usability of dwellings in London. Half of London’s housing stock was built before the Second World War but has been extensively modified. Due to greater pressure on the housing market and problems with dwelling size, London was the first local authority in England to reintroduce space standards for all housing sectors in 2011. Providing a first comprehensive analysis of space standards and dwelling size in London at room level and across all built periods, the data shows that 61% of London homes fail the recommended minimum dwelling sizes of the London Housing Design Guide (2010), 51% a bedroom standard and 88% at least one of the dimensional requirements. The paper quantifies the extent to which homes fail both recent and historical space standards and discusses their effectiveness in relation to dwelling usability and issues of design

Dataset for 'Space standards in affordable housing in England'

This dataset contains the dimensional data used in the article 'Space standards in affordable housing in England' published in Building Research & Information. The dataset contains a spreadsheet where the data can be found and a PDF file for guidance