Learning to design for social sustainability through the synthesis of two approaches

This paper brings together research that I was involved in the SUE –MOT (sustainable urban environments; metrics models and toolkits) funded by the EPSRC (completed in 2010) and my work in Sri Lanka on a pioneering project to relocate Canal Bank dwellers that was awarded to me as winner of an open competition conducted by the Sri Lanka Institute of Architects. The project was completed in 1998. This paper compares the two approaches; Top down and Bottom up approaches to learn to design better for social sustainability

Chelta Neighbourhood Project

This article summarises the winning project of a competition by the Sri Lanka Institute of Architects to design a masterplan and neighbourhood for the resettlement of canal bank dwellers

Changing boundaries and meanings of middle class houses in Sri Lanka

Houses are distinctively organised spatial networks that embody social norms and meaning of a given culture. Normally it is accepted that visually identifiable house ‘types’ which also closely fit the culture of a group are adopted by society. In Sri Lanka, there was popular house ‘types’ among the middle class until about 1980. Today, house forms of the middle class are diverse with apparent new trends in recent years. If contemporary middle class house forms are not visually characterized by type/s, how does ‘culture’ influence house form? This paper explores whether there are ‘types’ with distinctive spatial networks among the diverse house forms and the nature of embodied social norms. In the context of apparent change, such exploration advances the understanding of the association of house form and culture for the contemporary society of Sri Lanka. By using space syntax analysis, this paper argues that although eclectic in visual appearance, middle class houses share a cultural ‘gene’ in their spatial configuration as a ‘genotype’ that operate beneath the visual. Analysis of forty houses revealed that an older genotype named as the O model is diminishing and that a new genotype named as the M model had stabilised after 1980. The contemporary ‘genotype’ classifies space to accommodate meanings of a new everyday home life. The older genotype which classified space to accommodate meaning of a by-gone lifestyle is no longer popular. The negotiation between the new genotype and heterogeneous phenotypes allow for the affirming of class solidarities in new ways in contemporary Sri Lank

Ideas for change 2017: Extra Care Housing in Lincolnshire

With current housing models struggling to meet the needs of a changing population now and for the future, students of the School of Architecture and Design, School of Health and Social Care and School of Business, University of Lincoln were challenged with understanding those needs and translating them into innovative design ideas for Extra Care Housing in Lincolnshire. The challenge was made in the form of a competition in 2016 that transferred evidence and knowledge to design principles in response to local needs and challenges. The students identified needs for the wellbeing of older people in Lincolnshire, which endorsed the emerging evidence for the necessity of opportunities for wellbeing in rural ageing and the evidence for challenges and opportunities in rural ageing. These challenges are: mobility to provide access to facilities; opportunity to be with friends and family; affordable health and care; range of choice to downsize in their community; adaptability to changing physical and cognitive ability; active ageing and healthy lifestyles; opportunity to participate socially and economically; opportunity for care in the community to promote wellbeing; and the need to integrate housing with the delivery of health. The students translated the needs to design principles for the built environment appropriate for ageing in place in rural Lincolnshire. They presented the ideas as five Design Guides at a final workshop. This document is a development of the ideas from the five groups on how we should shape our built environment for an ageing population to advance local strategies. The document showcases the vision that young minds have produced and we believe this will help to stimulate thinking and dialogue to create pathways for localised solutions

Critique of built environment practices in care and extra care settings for people across the ageing lifespan

The design quality of the built environment is key determinant of the environmental, social and economic wellbeing of urban and rural areas that affects quality of life. Sustainable practices in the built environment require a new way of doing things; a way which reduces environmental impact and promotes economic and social sustainability. Social capital, which constitutes the social bonds and norms and acts as the ‘glue that holds societies together’ is fundamental to the social sustainability of communities. The design and form of cities, towns, neighbourhoods and individual buildings have significant implications on social capital as they affect the way people interact and bond with each other and the sense of community. The building forms of supported housing and care homes also impact on social capital. The paper evaluates negative and positive contributions to social capital in rural care and extra care homes in Lincolnshire, based on findings from a series of workshops and individual interviews with stakeholders and end-users. These are juxtaposed to findings from a socio-spatial analysis of the first ever dementia village, at Netherlands. The paper identifies exclusionary building practices, which could impact on how residents interact with each other, with staff as well as their personal and social network including families. These exclusionary mechanisms that certain typologies might foster, eventually might endanger fragile bonding and bridging capital. This combined to the growing evidence that supports the high importance of social capital for rural communities, generates the need for socially sustainable and inclusive practices that prevent resources from being allocated to newly built ‘ghettos’. That could be achieved by revisiting and investing in existing village hubs, especially in those almost abandoned villages in deprived rural areas all over Europe and revitalise them as socially inclusive communities, active in the silver economy

Selected work from practice

Here are a few of the buildings I designed as a chartered architect in Sri Lanka

When will we learn: key factors and potential barriers

The overall aim of this research was to improve the dissemination of Lessons Learned in construction projects so that contractors’ project teams have access to the most relevant lessons at the most appropriate time, in the most appropriate format. The outcome of the research aimed to provide (1) an understanding of the different systems and tools used for recording Lessons Learned amongst major construction contractors; (2) an understanding of the needs in terms of what sort of lessons are required, the level of detail required and how best these should be made available; and (3) an approach on how best to disseminate Lessons Learned. The key objectives of the research were to: 1. Investigate current practice for recording and disseminating Lessons Learned; 2. Identify potential barriers for successfully disseminating Lessons Learned; and 3. Identify key factors affecting company processes to encourage a more systematic dissemination of Lessons Learned. The study was conducted in three phases. The first investigated contractors’ current practices for recording and disseminating Lessons Learned through a questionnaire survey. The second phase identified key factors that would encourage the institutionalisation of Lessons Learned and also the factors that inhibit their use. The third phase examined how current processes could be adapted to develop a process that would embed the systematic dissemination of Lessons Learned within an organisation’s existing practices. This report focuses on the second stage of the project that identified from the end users those factors that would encourage the institutionalisation of Lessons Learned and also the factors that inhibit their use of Lessons Learned

Janasevana house SLA architectural competition

This article discusses the winning entries of a competition by the Sri Lanka Institute of Architects to design a low cost house

Urban design and social capital: lessons from a case study in Braunstone, Leicester, UK

A valuable asset in sustainable regeneration is the ‘community’ with their developed networks, bonds and ties or in other words its social capital which is a useful resource. Braunstone in Leicester is typical of many disadvantaged areas in the UK, with persistent socio-economic problems exacerbated by a poor physical setting. With a large regeneration programme funded by the New Deal for Communities coming to a close, we conducted a case study to explore the impact of improved local facilities and the effect of walkability on social capital. The lessons learnt suggests that responding to needs at a finer grain is vital in developing neighbourhoods for social capital such as responding to the needs of different user groups, responding to local patterns of use and needs of micro localities, and improving the perceptions of neighbourhoods. Local facilities and neighbourhood walkablity provides incentives for longer term residency, and facilitates interaction which helps social capital to grow. Accessing services by walking and using public transport proves vital to engage in social activities, while a poor physical environment, lack of accessible services and public transport negatively affects participation in social and leisure activities. Facilities and buildings provide a mediating role in developing social capital in a community, providing opportunity for social interaction which encourages people to reside in an area for longer. Improving connections beyond the neighbourhood is important to help retain people for longer term residency to develop social capital

Housing prototypes for the wellbeing of elderly in Lincolnshire

This project is a scoping study supported by the Research Investment Fund 2013, University of Lincoln. This research aims to develop a holistic approach to decision making that facilitates ‘wellbeing’ of the elderly in future housing prototypes in Lincolnshire. Central to this understanding is how several systems work together, such as changing care models and ways of delivery, demands by changing demographics of family types, emphasis on preventive medicine and delay of morbidity and life expectancy, and wellbeing variables of the elderly related to activities, functional ability, personal beliefs and attitudes, home and personal finances (Jackson 2011, Gallaway 2005), and social networks that build social capital (Paranagamage 2010). It is accepted that to enable this, local services such as housing, health, social care, leisure, transport and education etc would need to be integrated to work as a whole system facilitating independent living balanced by needs for interdependence with family, community and neighbourhood. Strategies to promote independent living need to be underpinned by requirements for maximising resources and empowering older people to remain physically as well as economically active; and providing housing in a way that promotes social inclusion and wellbeing (Byrd 2009). The decision support tool would model the interaction of the range of systems that impinge on one another to recommend pathways for the conceptualization of elderly housing. This would enable all stakeholders concerned with the provision of housing for older adults in the public and private sector, to holistically envision elderly housing both now and in the future. The research will proceed to bridge the gap in its translation to a conceptual prototype of housing. The research will also validate and refine the tool and prototype by working with local housing associations and Age UK involved in the delivery of elderly housing in Lincolnshire. The objectives are 1) to create a decision support tool 2) to develop a conceptual model for housing prototypes 3) work with local housing associations and Age UK to pilot the transition of the conceptual model to design 4) develop feedback mechanisms to validate and monitor work stage