When smaller homes are the right solution
Concept visual with a range of outdoor shared spaces
Space standards are rightly applied to new homes however, are there circumstances where it should be possible to provide smaller, well-designed homes for a specific need? Melanie Perkins has been helping Centrepoint with their Independent Living Programme.
Space-saving or compact homes are often discussed in the context of how to solve the conundrum of providing enough places for city dwellers to live. Proposals for smaller spaces can stall as local authorities reference the minimum national living space standards. The question is whether there are situations when a deviation from the standard is acceptable or should it always be adhered to no matter what the circumstances are. Could building a smaller home be the right solution if there is a particular and specific need and how can good design help?
Centrepoint is a charity with a mission to eradicate youth homelessness for those aged between 18 and 25. Their vital work includes an Independent Living Programme which provides an important head start towards living a completely independent life. Those on the programme are self-sufficient, employed and/or developing their careers. Genuinely affordable rental rates are set at a manageable percentage rate of salary rather than a standard rate. For these young people, a home of their own provides a community and an intermediate springboard to an independent future.
“We want our accommodation to be what young people have always wanted: a place to call home.”
Centrepoint
We are working with the charity and local authorities in the capital to identify suitable small sites for new modular homes which can provide a cost-effective construction solution. Centrepoint aims to provide accommodation for 300 young people on the programme and there is GLA funding available for homes to a minimum size of 26sqm through London’s Single Homelessness Accommodation Programme (SHAP). With many of our conversations, the stalling point is the space standards in the London Plan which is 1 single bedroom space of 37sqm (with shower room instead of a bathroom).
Concept sketch showing apartment design considerations, which include: openable windows for cross ventilation; dual aspect, bright, light and highly efficient layouts; pulled out walkways to provide light into lower levels; and increased external circulation widths to provide communal spaces.
In terms of need, residents on the Independent Living Programme find the smaller size less daunting as they often do not have enough possessions to fill a larger space. In addition, some residents may be transitioning from a 9 sqm hostel room with shared kitchen and bathroom facilities, so a self-contained home of 26 sqm is a manageable intermediate size with a much greater amount of personal space. With a number of units on each site, additional semi-private and shared spaces can supplement the private space and help to create a community.
There is an urgent need for these homes and the huge benefits they can provide to the residents. Given the very specific parameters and the circumstances, we would be delighted to engage in positive conversations with stakeholders to achieve planning consents.
In our design approach to developing proposals for the homes, we reviewed existing modular examples such as the SoloHaus module which is 24sqm and the M-AR module which is 21sqm. These examples have been used on similar sites in Haringey and Southwark (65 homes provided in total).
Concept with the living area adjacent to external walkways and entrance
The compact, modular homes can be built off-site to a high quality and level of sustainability, creating spaces that are energy efficient and cheap to run. With an exemplary design for the private home, semi-private transitional spaces and shared areas we can provide everything for a new community on small pockets of land. Our team has been working through the many design considerations with thinking centred around the following ideas for the homes, the site and the wider community:
Use of light and window areas to give a sense of space
Highly efficient layouts for all aspects of living
Positioning of spaces within a unit according to the need for privacy and/or visual connection
Flexible built-in furniture allowing a single space to be used for multiple functions
Tactile and comfortable
Bright and optimistic
Homely
Safe and secure
The arrangement of modules to create a variety of public and private spaces
Outdoor circulation extending to provide small communal spaces and blurring semi-public/ private thresholds
Access to outdoor shared landscaped areas for socialising and creating community
Allotments or areas where food can be grown
Community amenity spaces
Facilities for shared use by the wider community
Although we firmly advocate the principles of the minimum space standards, in this context, we believe there should be a valid consideration and acceptance of smaller, well-designed homes which are for a specific need. We would add that such homes would need to be carefully monitored by checking in with residents to make any design adjustments, including size, that might be needed. If they are well-designed modules and sites, we believe it is possible to make beautiful, light-filled, high-quality homes to help to set these young residents on their journey to independence. Let’s hope we can all help Centrepoint reach their goal to end youth homelessness.
Our team members are mostly Part I and Part II architectural assistants who are giving some of their time to work on this project. Within the practice it has provided an opportunity for them to take the lead, developing their design, presentation and client engagement skills.
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