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Interesting article in Building Design. about the impact the built environment can have on the health and wellbeing of children. This is something we're considering at our #ElementsEdinburgh development, making sure the space we create is inclusive and accessible for all. We look forward to the results of Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities inquiry. https://lnkd.in/eVsj6h3B

I am a Quality of Life Foundation Associate Quality of Life Foundation and I was invited to London Earls Court yesterday at the Symposium as one of the panellists. The critical question was, “What needs to change in industry or policy if we are to create homes and neighbourhoods that deliver for people’s health and wellbeing?” There is a lack of participatory action in those marginalised, and with less in our society and no diverse voices, to create good, sustainable homes and neighbourhoods to deliver for people's health and wellbeing. There is a need for co-develop, co-design, co-construct, and co-dissemination to shift the power dynamics and influence policy is critical to delivering better sustainable homes and neighbourhoods. I also spoke about the research we do in communities (see links below) and the 3rd space that could be created around homes to improve the health and well-being of young people, older adults and families. It can combat social isolation, give safe spaces for children to play, and create better, healthier communities with services decentralised into their spaces and centring the voices of people to participate to have a say in what buildings/homes go in their areas or the services they receive – bottom to top framework. It was great to meet people working in Research, Government, Architects, NHS, young voices, private companies and grassroots organisations who participated and agreed it was time for a change in how homes and neighbourhoods should put the voices of people first. Urban spaces homes, buildings and services that take into consideration not for the people but with the people. #community #research #architects #homes #neighbourhoods #health #wellbeing #nhs #building #homes #people #participatory #diverse

Our new publication with my PhD student DANYANG LEI, Prof Jean Woo, and Rina Ko on housing preference for ageing-in-place. This study explores older adults’ preferences on design and service features that would promote ageing-in-place in private housing setting in a high density urban context, like Hong Kong. The study is part of a larger study on the development of a residential design guide for healthy ageing, supported by Chinachem Group. The study results will feed into the new design guide, with an aim to update the existing age-friendly design guide and foster advancement in the private sector. #aginginplace #seniorliving #healthyaging #housingdesign

Elated to witness the well-deserved recognition of Hope Street, Snug Architects, the Design Team, Lady Edwina Grosvenor, and OST's visionary project. Grateful to have lead the initial strategic thinking with a wonderful team. The vision and resulting design guidelines were inspired by first hand experience leading and designing Maggie's Yorkshire in Leeds. From the outset, it was evident that the design should be entrusted to local talent, and the team executed this brilliantly. Congratulations!!! Excited to see the ripples of the team's moving work and recognition. This project inspired the creation of RARE Fundamentals, serving impactful visionaries by merging past wisdom with future innovation. #VisionaryDesign #StrategicThinking #RAREFundamentals"

NIHR ARC North Thames has released it latest investigation last month, ‘Design For All – A Place To Call Home’, looking at the health, social and economic impacts of homelessness and precarious housing, along with strategies for how to build affordable and sustainable dwellings for those in the UK in greatest need.   The aim is to transform how social and affordable housing is provided and to demonstrate how targets can be met by building high-quality, sustainable and socially balanced communities.   In the report, they propose a transformative national housing plan that seeks to resolve, once and for all, the UK’s housing crisis through policy changes that require an additional £4 billion of Exchequer subsidy to provide around 72,000 extra dwellings each year, built largely by local authorities. Collaborative strategic initiatives are needed to investigate innovative design solutions for a new generation of high-quality, low-energy social/affordable homes for both new and retrofit housing which use new technologies to deliver the scale of output needed and to achieve Net Zero Carbon construction.   We were pleased to contribute to this research, and to see our work referenced throughout the report, with various Mikhail Riches projects cited as specific examples of how building design could help achieve some of the recommendations made.    You can access the full report, and watch the video recording, to discover more about the twelve specific recommendations made to deliver the plan at: https://lnkd.in/eRTaiDvb   #designforall #socialhousing #homelessness #ukhousing #ukarchitecture #netzerohousing      Investigating Team: Adrian Campbell (changebuilding) Prof Murray Fraser (The Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL) Olivia Harris (Dolphin Living) John McAslan (John McAslan + Partners) Prof Elena Pizzo (NIHR ARC North Thames / UCL) Prof Rosalind Raine (NIHR ARC North Thames / UCL) Tom Sweetman (DP9 Limited) Dr Nicholas Jewell (The Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL) Varthani Kirupanandan (Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust) Kerry Littleford (London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, U. of London)   Image: Report cover - Duncombe Barracks for City of York Council (CGI by Darcstudio)

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#justpublished 🤔 Have you ever wondered how people with disabilities evacuate from buildings? What barriers do they face and what solutions exist that support these individuals to evacuate in a safe manner? 🌎 Our world is changing - with more dense, urban, vertical cities and demographics that include projected increases in our ageing population and the rate of disability in our communities. As a result, now is the time to implement forward-thinking building standards and evacuation guidelines that consider the unique needs of individuals with functional limitations. 💡 I am so excited to announce the publication of our multi-year project titled, “Evacuation Solutions for Individuals with Functional Limitations in the Indoor Built Environment: A Scoping Review" in Buildings MDPI. We took a systematic approach to consider solutions that can support individuals with different impairments to navigate the various elements involved in an evacuation (from notification to egress), the unique challenges in different building types and emergencies, and how different disciplines can come together to design with inclusivity. 📎 These findings will help guide the creation of new accessibility standards in Canada. This project was a multi-team effort composed of researchers at both the Engineering Health team at the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute as well as the Neuromuscular Control & Biomechanics Laboratory at the University of Alberta: Brad Roberts, Waqas Sajid, PEng, Zeyad Ghulam, Mark Weiler, Yashoda Sharma, Dr. Cesar Marquez Chin, Dr. Steven Pong. Special thanks to principal investigators Dr. Tilak Dutta and Dr. Albert Vette for their mentorship, encouragement, and guidance throughout the project! You can access the full open-access version here: https://lnkd.in/g-Nv_wab #disability #evacuation #naturaldisasters #firesafety #builtenvironment #aging #research #scopingreview #mdpi #buildings #openaccess

Our researcher in residence with Bristol City Council, Anna Le Gouais has helped to embed health messaging into the Frome Gateway Regeneration Framework, a spatial development plan for an area close to Bristol City Centre.   As the public consultation closes this weekend, read her blog on how the specific health messaging will be examined for potential impact on future planning applications. This included:   ▶ Prolonged experience of housing costs above 30% of income can have a negative impact on mental health, increasing risk of mental disorders.   ▶ Improvements to the quality and quantity of green space could bring £30 million benefits from reduction in disease.   ▶ Provision of additional green space through a single unit, rather than dispersed across the site, may bring further reductions of risk of diabetes, to a value of £21 million.   ▶ High levels of traffic related noise can almost double risk of depression for adults and increase the risk of mental health problems for children.   ▶ Overall we estimate that following the framework will result in £80-100 million of health economic benefit, compared to an unmanaged approach to development. https://bit.ly/40wz92u #research #urbandevelopment #healthyplaces

This is a really interesting review and well worth a read. The headline finding is fairly stark. "The review found that current policies, guidance and regulations are highly complex and inconsistent in what they require regarding homes created through permitted development. By removing the requirement to obtain full planning consent, the government has taken away a key mechanism for ensuring good quality homes in appropriate locations. The lack of clear and specific requirements regarding the quality of housing created through permitted development creates a risk that regulators and developers might not ensure those vital requirements are addressed. The assumption that current policy and regulations provide a sufficient ‘safety net’ to ensure that any new home (whether created through permitted development or planning permission) meets basic standards to support health and wellbeing is unfounded." We know the links between health outcomes and the built environment in which we live are incredibly strong. From the Marmot Review (https://lnkd.in/ez2KTDgA) through to the recent DLUCH committee looking at children, young people and the built environment (https://lnkd.in/eWccT-va), we need to keep asking ourselves the question whether we are delivering people friendly and healthy places. https://lnkd.in/eYHwbe6a