Towards Evidence-Based, Human-Centered Housing Design
Winston Churchill famously remarked, “We shape our buildings, thereafter they shape us.” This project aims to explore how housing design directly affects our health, happiness, and overall well-being. Despite increased policy focus on delivering new homes, regulations often prioritize compliance over human-centered outcomes, resulting in spaces that check the right boxes but may fail to truly support the people who live in them.
By integrating technical standards with the perceptual and emotional experiences of occupants, we can design homes that improve both physical and mental health. Post-Occupancy Evaluation (POE) stands out as a method for gathering meaningful feedback on real-world performance, yet its implementation remains inconsistent. Through this project, we hope to address core questions around who should fund, conduct, and benefit from POE, and how these insights can be scaled for future developments.
Ultimately, we envision a collaborative approach that brings together developers, architects, policymakers, and residents early in the design process. With shared insights and human-centered metrics, we can redefine housing design from a purely compliance-driven exercise to one that actively fosters health, well-being, and sustainability.
Initial stakeholder mapping, 1:1 meetings to foster open dialogue
Convening event with diverse experts for shared problem-solving
Collaborative report production & distribution, shaping a future research agenda
Head of Public Engagement with Research
Knowledge Exchange & Impact Directorate, University of Leeds
Total Requested: £2,500
This lean budget ensures we engage meaningfully with local stakeholders, host a high-impact multi-sector workshop, and produce a collaboratively authored report to guide future research and advocacy.
This effort champions cross-sector engagement by including stakeholders from academia, local government, and the broader community. By starting with a “snowball” approach, we ensure meaningful partnerships that grow organically and foster trust, setting the stage for long-term commitments.
Rather than focusing on a narrow definition of success, the project integrates perspectives from engineering, architecture, psychology, and community stakeholders. We address the gap between compliance-driven design and the holistic well-being of occupants, highlighting real-world data, post-occupancy evaluation, and user-centered metrics.
Our approach aims to establish a collaborative framework and shared research agenda, ensuring that the project’s impact persists beyond its initial phase. The final report will offer strategic directions for future research, potential pilot studies, and policy alignment, creating a foundation for sustained innovation in housing design.
We prioritize engaging underrepresented communities by working with trusted local leaders and compensating community participants fairly. Our event design and outreach strategies aim to capture diverse voices, ensuring that housing solutions are inclusive and better reflect the varied needs of different demographic and cultural groups.
By involving stakeholders from day one, we create shared ownership in future solutions. This heightened buy-in increases the likelihood of real policy change, design innovation, and practical applications that benefit older adults, families, and the broader public. The interdisciplinary lens also expands the Healthy Buildings Network’s reach into emerging fields, fueling ongoing collaboration and knowledge transfer.
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Learn MoreInterested in shaping the future of human-centered housing design? Join our network to stay updated on workshops, findings, and funding opportunities.