{"id":18838,"date":"2018-04-27T18:04:07","date_gmt":"2018-04-27T17:04:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ihbconline.co.uk\/newsachive\/?p=18838"},"modified":"2018-04-27T18:04:07","modified_gmt":"2018-04-27T17:04:07","slug":"ihbc-cpd-boost-design-council-flags-reclaiming-negative-space-survey-and-potential-outcomes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/?p=18838","title":{"rendered":"IHBC CPD Boost: Design Council flags \u2018Reclaiming Negative Space Survey\u2019 and potential outcomes\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Design<\/a>The Design Council is committed to making a difference in people\u2019s lives through design, flagging up the work of two architects – Se\u00e1n Kehoe and Vincent Walsh \u2013 who are looking at small parcels of land and assessing the site potential for housing.<\/h3>\n

<\/p>\n

Victor Callister, Design Council Deputy Director of Architecture & Built Environment, writes:<\/p>\n

One of the great joys of working at Design Council is the privilege of meeting so many individuals and organisations that are committed to making a difference in people\u2019s lives through design. We see many innovative aspects of design thinking and new approaches to tackling the challenges of the present and the emerging world we inhabit together. We are always on the lookout for emerging new evidence and methodologies that can assist decision makers in making sense of complex problems and that provide tools to help shape change and to meet the people behind them.<\/p>\n

One such opportunity came our way when two architects, Se\u00e1n Kehoe and Vincent Walsh, asked us to look at the work that they had been doing in their local area of London\u00a0looking at small parcels of land and assessing the site potential for housing. Se\u00e1n and Vincent have set themselves the ambition of changing what we know about the development potential for small scale housing developments in the capital, and they have set an ambition to map every useable development opportunity in London.<\/p>\n

Having already completed their \u2018Negative Space Survey\u2019 of the London Borough of Hackney\u00a0by biking every single street, alley and estate, they believe they have recorded enough space on publicly-owned land to conservatively house 21,000 people in over 6,500 homes, and they think that this is possible without impacting community amenity space, exceeding contextually appropriate scale, or displacing a single existing resident.<\/p>\n

In our discussions with Se\u00e1n and Vincent they did not speak of \u2018buildings filling gaps\u2019 or of \u2018housing provision\u2019, but of quality architectural interventions that seek to enhance a local area and address some divisions in our society too.<\/p>\n

\u2018Our survey highlights wasted space not as an indication of misuse, but as opportunity to improve,\u2019\u00a0said Vincent.\u00a0\u2019There are infinite possibilities within the bounds of the existing urban fabric \u2013 each instance an opportunity to bolster existing communities and re-engage disenfranchised neighbourhoods. Quality architecture can be the difference between vibrant city-life and a mundane existence. Good design takes time and investment, and architects need to be given a chance. The process should begin with finding the most worthwhile opportunities. That is what we have set out to achieve.<\/p>\n

What do you do when you want to affect change? You find where best to focus your efforts, then you get to work. We have challenged ourselves to finding only the worthwhile opportunities for development; excluding those that would negatively impact an area if developed. To this end, our survey is only the first step towards better places and better place builders, Our work should encourage conversation and debate that address issues in the cityscape and improve London as a whole. If at the same time we can help solve the housing crisis \u2013 well, that would be nice too.<\/p>\n

There are a lot of people trying to address land issues through automation, or from the comfort of their home computer. In our experience you need to be in the midst of these areas with an architectural aptitude and at human scale and pace to truly understand the needs of a community and judge the impact of proposed development.\u2019<\/p>\n

We were understandably keen to see the results of their work, bearing in mind the current projected housing need and delivery for London, and the role that small sites will need to play in delivering this extraordinary step change in housing. From\u00a0their work, it is clear we have a new emerging methodology it is worth our time to explore and test \u2013\u00a0one that seeks to identify opportunities, with an ambition to contribute positively to how London\u2019s creation of new homes in our existing neighbourhoods.\u00a0Given the miles walked and the time effort required and the fact that they were fully employed in architectural jobs, their commitment and endeavour is extraordinary, and the results speak for themselves.<\/p>\n

For more information on UrbanR+D’s work,<\/em> read the full report on their website<\/em><\/a>\u00a0or follow<\/em>\u00a0@urbanrandd<\/em><\/a>\u00a0on Twitter.<\/em><\/p>\n

Read more….<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Design Council is committed to making a difference in people\u2019s lives through design, flagging up the work of two architects – Se\u00e1n Kehoe and Vincent Walsh \u2013 who are looking at small parcels of land and assessing the site … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18838","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ihbc-newsblog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18838","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18838"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18838\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18840,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18838\/revisions\/18840"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18838"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18838"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18838"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}