Hannah Worley

178 Units

At the forefront of the post-war housing crisis, we saw modernism – a new way of life – birth the mass social housing block through its innovative technologies and functionalism. The soon to be disregarded typology of this time was not necessarily a failing of its architectural design but instead the policy and politics which surrounded it. The stigmatized view of social housing projects has condemned certain materials and typologies to be seen as nothing more than cheap and undesirable. However, the opportunities of the slab typology can be revived into an architectural language which provides residents with the most generous and liveable spaces at the lowest possible cost. This project reclaims this affordable housing typology with a focus on space and experience, prioritising the needs of its occupants.

The material and construction technologies permit a unique spatial hyper flexibility, in which open and unconstrained dwellings allow for the individual to live a life with dignity – a life which does not lose its spatial equality and freedom to the urban push of mass housing. These two buildings simultaneously articulate and deconstruct the process of ‘living’ through the juxtaposition of an ordered and controlled design sensibility with moments of unconventional expression. 178 units proposes how a neglected way of living will be resurrected.