or through careful selection of designers and constructors. The contemporary absence of the ‘art of construction’ may be the most damaging influence on the longevity of our housing stock. Security Benjamin Franklin’s ‘Love thy neighbour, yet don’t pull down your hedge’ is especially pertinent in UK housing design where clear boundaries are particularly valued. The layout of housing, especially if it departs from the lower-density norm of streets and houses, is fundamental to engendering security and safety and thus to the lasting success of a neighbourhood. Many post-war estates are blighted beyond remedy by their high-level walkways, dead ground-floor garages and poorly overlooked spaces that allow anti-social behaviour to flourish. Essentials such as good lighting, natural surveillance and clarity of public and private space are now broadly accepted as axioms of good housing layout. Fences, front gardens and balconies provide a delicate balance between surveillance and privacy and the design of these thresholds is an underrated craft. Shared space The spaces we move through and share in housing developments – street, garden, community hall, café or corridor – shape the way we meet and relate to our neighbours. They have the potential to enhance those relationships or severely test them, depending on how well community members come together to take charge of their shared assets and evolve their use over time. The design of landscape is particularly important, especially in urban housing: every square metre of horizontal space is precious, with trees and plants essential for the wellbeing of the higherdensity dweller. That amenity is under constant threat from our insatiable appetite for car ownership, although a driverless future may await us, provoking new spatial arrangements and possibilities. The enduring success of shared space is only partly in the hands of the designer of course; commercial space within a housing scheme has to be thoughtfully programmed by developers, and the use and management of spaces of all kinds requires a mature governance system within the community to serve diverse needs. The social foundations (including the empowerment of resident groups) that allow the evolution of community coherence, crucial to a lasting place, are beyond the scope of this book. Stewardship Adequate and timely investment in maintenance ultimately underpins a housing scheme’s long-term success, no matter what the design. While designers can seldom control the level of this ongoing investment, it is imperative that they make it easier for the stewards and residents of their housing schemes to ensure that upkeep is affordable and easy to carry out. Fabric degradation occurs for a variety of reasons, including poor component choices, inaccessible services, flawed thermal performance, naive or overcomplicated detailing and shoddy workmanship. Specification and detailing are now often left to constructors, but the risk of building failure is not managed this way. Lifts and doorentry systems exist at the less glamorous end of housing
design, but their persistent failure costs landlords time and money and can ultimately lead to a failure of place. It behoves clients, designers and constructors to rediscover the craft of assembling good-quality components into robust buildings that can be managed within a sustainable budget. The success of schemes such as the Barbican and the Span developments comes at a high ongoing price, service-charged to the wealthy residents; similar schemes in the lower-income sector have consistently failed, through no fault of the resident body. Stability The ‘sought-after’ tag often denotes a place where a core community persists through many generations. Neighbourhoods inevitably undergo churn as people move through various life stages and make up- and down-sizing choices, but the best retain a group of households committed to the place, ensuring continuity of stewardship. Designers may wonder how they can have an impact on this stability, when it is surely landlord or planning policies such as tenure mix and tenancy clauses that enable deep roots to form. However, a diverse and well-disposed mix of unit typologies can enable residents to move on within their community. Compelling shared spaces such as large and safe communal gardens make places desirable for families, who build up community ties and become reluctant to move away. As our society ages, it feels ever more important to enfold older people within community ecosystems rather than isolating them in dedicated satellites; and children also benefit from this multi-generational presence and wisdom. So the designer’s role is to cleverly integrate these diverse members into a coherent micro-society where households cycle through the homes. Spirit This last quality is perhaps the culmination of the other five: the evolution of a clear identity and personality for the development, emerging from a distinctive aesthetic and an agreed stewardship regime. One could go so far as to say that people can fall in love with their living environment due to quirks of appearance, style, components and landscape and also as a result of unique communal activities, on-site staff and collective management, all of which make residents feel embraced by their surroundings. Once enough residents are in love, stability and stewardship follow and a lasting place is born. But it only takes a change in lettings policy or a spell of under-investment for this sense of place to degrade; residents need to be aware and protective of the factors that contribute to what can be a fragile ecosystem. Though some contend that there is only one suitable built format for successful and lasting housing, these six qualities can all exist at high density, with tight space standards and at medium or high rise. Particular formats will probably cost more to build and steward than others, but this is a value choice made by both developer and resident. Having said that, it is irresponsible to build homes where an unsustainable service charge is required for those on lower incomes; insufficient thought is still given to the funding of stewardship at the design stage. 7
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