Q: Reflecting back on the 2024 Awards, what were a few things that struck you most about the submissions?
A: “I am fortunate to be judging a few awards every year and one of the things I particularly enjoy about the British Homes Awards is they are not limited to one type of housing tenure or typology. In the regeneration category, for instance, there was a four-storey house as well as a large-scale scheme by property developer Ballymore. That’s the brilliance of it all, it’s about creating places where people live and about ‘what makes a home a home’. A brilliant project was Dovehouse Court Almshouses by Mole Architects, which won in the Later Living/ Supported Living Design of the Year category. Located on the outskirts of Cambridge it is a Passivhaus certified project and has changed the lives of its residents. The success of some of the submissions really came about through the narratives they told: how has design positively impacted the lives of the residents. I am a strong believer that design decisions can deliver social value, and this is what these awards should be about; recognising the value created by architects, interior designers and landscape architects through good design. After all, we spend around 90% of our lives indoors and 60% of our time in our time in our homes, so it is not surprising that homes can impact on all sorts of things from our health to social mobility.”
Q: What does the idea of healthy buildings mean to you?
A: “A healthy building promotes the wellbeing of its occupants by optimising indoor air quality, lighting, thermal comfort and acoustics all through the use of ‘healthy’ materials. It also needs to consider inclusive accessibility and the quality of its external environment. At Assael, our main service is architecture, but a few years ago we created an in-house interior design team and a landscape department. That decision was very much related to the notion of designing healthy buildings, from details and specifications to external play, biodiversity and quality of the streetscape. We consider all aspects holistically.’
Q: Can you elaborate further on the idea and importance of community within housing projects?
A: “The notion of community is so important in our lives, quite specifically around our homes because it is about fostering connection, support, shared purpose and it enhances our sense of belonging. A community can be formed around many shared interests, be it a school, living on the same street, a place of worship, hobbies, culture etc. When we design large-scale developments, we think about the community aspect because successful buildings tend to have a sense of community, be homely and conducive to foster connections between people and create that sense of belonging. Partly important because it creates places where people want to move into, but also because they are more likely to feel a sense of agency and autonomy, so important to our wellbeing and happiness. Equally important is to create buildings that become active parts of their neighbourhoods and contribute to them with external spaces, complementary uses and services. Delivering benefits to the existing communities that we come and build in”
Q: In your personal approach to design you talk about considering masterplanning large-scale developments to thinking of the smallest details of urban living – can you elaborate on that?
A: “Our homes are so important because they are the backdrops to our lives, they need to be safe, healthy (as described above), long lasting and environmentally friendly. We personalise them and make them our own. But the interaction between new residential buildings and their setting is crucial and ultimately decisive on their success or failure. Considerations such as the seamless integration of servicing, refuse pick up, drop offs / deliveries and a variety of competing activities must be resolved to create a good public realm for all. To me, the smallest details of urban living are about streetlighting, inclusive design of pavements, seating arrangement in public spaces, integration of play on often constrained high density sites, integration of biodiversity and natural elements, maintenance and so on. All these might be small independent strategic decisions but holistically create successful neighbourhoods.”
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