{"id":763796,"date":"2024-12-17T07:30:12","date_gmt":"2024-12-17T07:30:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/?p=763796"},"modified":"2024-12-17T07:39:29","modified_gmt":"2024-12-17T07:39:29","slug":"lighthouse-childrens-home-a-new-model-for-child-centred-design","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/specification\/lighthouse-childrens-home-a-new-model-for-child-centred-design","title":{"rendered":"Lighthouse Children\u2019s Home: a new model for child-centred design"},"content":{"rendered":"

England\u2019s care home system has been under increasing scrutiny in recent years, grappling with issues of privatisation, regulatory failures, and chronic underinvestment. These challenges have exposed deep flaws in how care services \u2013 particularly for children \u2013 are structured and delivered in the UK.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

While the Children and Social Work Act 2017 and the 2022 Independent Review of Children\u2019s Social Care outlined the need for more accountable and child-centred services, the sector remains in dire need of comprehensive overhaul.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Now, Labour has signalled its intention to reshape social care through a proposed National Care Service, aiming to address long-standing inequalities and inefficiencies by shifting towards a more equitable, responsive system that co-designs care solutions with service users and caregivers.<\/span><\/p>\n

An essential yet often overlooked aspect of such reform lies in the design of the care facilities themselves. The physical spaces in which care is provided have a profound impact on both the quality of care and the experiences of those who live and work within them. It\u2019s this connection between environment and care that can be seen in the recent conversion of a dilapidated care home for the elderly in Sutton into the Lighthouse Children\u2019s Home.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Niche designed for semi-social and introverted time<\/em><\/p>\n\t

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The project, which won last year\u2019s Stephen Lawrence Prize, was designed by Conrad Koslowsky, a Canadian-British architect based in east London with a background in construction and psychology. His interest in architecture has always had a social agenda. \u2018Psychology encourages a sort of evidence-based design,\u2019 he says, \u2018but these attempts to quantify architectural design rarely work. My primary school for instance had these pastel-coloured walls, \u201cscientifically\u201d proven to be beneficial for children. But we then became one of many schools with these pale-toned walls. I gravitated towards architecture because I think of design not as a scientific method but as a basis for social change.\u2019\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s this thinking that informed his specific approach to the Lighthouse. The project was initiated by Emmanuel Akpan-Inwang, who in 2017 launched the Lighthouse Pedagogy Trust. This set out to create children\u2019s homes \u2018where children can thrive\u2019.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

He chose Conrad Koslowsky Architects to repurpose the Sutton site, setting the challenge of making the new home work within the building\u2019s existing skeleton. By knocking down jarring partitions, the studio created fewer, more spacious rooms, each with multiple entryways. This design aimed to minimise the sense of claustrophobia that Koslowsky and Akpan-Inwang had both noticed while visiting other children\u2019s homes throughout the country.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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Illustrated brief by Conrad Koslowsky<\/em><\/p>\n\t

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\u2018Children\u2019s homes are a kind of architecture that must foster both a sense of development as well as of stability,\u2019 says Koslowsky. \u2018To do this, I imagined the building as a character \u2013 just like the children and carers who live inside it. This helped conceptualise the home as a constantly evolving, autonomous space, rather than something stagnant and institutional.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

The pair also looked abroad for inspiration and say a key design reference for the home came from Copenhagen\u2019s radical Josephine Schneider\u2019s House \u2013 a home that reflects Denmark\u2019s equitable and durable children\u2019s care system. Koslowsky was inspired by the caring details of the Danish home, where spaces for interaction, privacy, play or work are subtly delineated yet suitably designed.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Similarly, in a virtual tour of the Sutton home, the attention to detail is palpable and its simplicity is particularly encouraging. Whether it\u2019s providing blackboard spaces for children, circular nooks with curtains in corridors or splashes of colour on solid-oak interiors, the house bears no resemblance to the clinical and neglected care homes scattered across the country. Instead, it encourages its inhabitants to develop a personal relationship with their space, whether that means scribbling on walls or drawing curtains for privacy.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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Dining area with custom-designed table<\/p>\n\t

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One of Koslowsky\u2019s favourite elements is the custom-designed dining table. \u2018Its curve is asymmetrical,\u2019 he explains, \u2018so that on one end, inhabitants are closer together, and on the other \u2013 on those less social days \u2013 children can dine with company but not necessarily have to interact.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

Impressively, the home displays few signs of institutional regulation beyond the fire exit signs affixed to certain wooden doors.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

At a recent event hosted by the Architecture Foundation, Royal College of Art professor Sam Jacoby spoke about the architecture of regulations and design standards. His research with care-users showed that the ability to make changes to one\u2019s living environment was essential for wellbeing and satisfaction.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Children\u2019s bedrooms with adaptable layouts<\/em><\/p>\n\t

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It\u2019s a need that Koslowsky, in his approach to designing the children\u2019s home, clearly acknowledges and sought to incorporate. \u2018When you\u2019re building a care home, you represent the institution of national care,\u2019 he says. \u2018Currently, the architecture of children\u2019s homes in the UK merely reflects the broader stigma surrounding children in care.\u2019<\/p>\n

In comparison to care homes for the elderly, the regulations for children\u2019s homes are relatively straightforward: to create a place where children in care can feel safe and comfortable. Koslowsky says he wanted to address the great discrepancy between what designers, regulators and occupants mean by housing standards and quality, championing honest and open conversations about the home\u2019s design.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The project couldn\u2019t have been achieved through a top-down approach. Koslowsky knew that clarifying the brief with clients about what they wanted from the home was key to its success. \u2018The client and practitioner are interrelated \u2013 we learn from each other and find a middle ground,\u2019 he explains. \u2018Good design is always a compromise.\u2019\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Private spaces<\/em><\/p>\n\t

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In an industry that continues to celebrate the narrative of the individual design genius, Koslowsky\u2019s antithetical approach is a breath of fresh air. For him, architecture is primarily a cultural practice, and this children\u2019s home offers a new model of social pedagogy in this country.<\/p>\n

He acknowledges that the sector\u2019s chronic underinvestment and enormous budget shortfalls discourage thoughtful and sustainable care home design \u2013 although he points out that the Lighthouse Children\u2019s Home came in at just under \u00a31 million \u2013 a relatively low sum. But since local councils struggle to fund care homes independently, they often rely on private investments from profit-driven corporations. Across the country, large investments are made in children\u2019s homes yet they are only inspected by Ofsted officers after completion, to certify and register them as homes. Koslowsky identifies this as a systemic flaw with direct repercussions for their architecture. In a rush to gain Ofsted approval, the homes often rely on previous design models with innovative design solutions seen as risky investments. \u2018As architects, we also need to think about the frameworks within which we are building, and perhaps redesign them too,\u2019 he suggests.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\u00a0<\/span>\"\"<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

In a climate where 80 per cent of children\u2019s homes are privately run, Koslowsky\u2019s collaboration with the Lighthouse Pedagogy Trust provides an instructive example of how public and non-profit models can challenge the status quo. As he continues his work on similar projects \u2013 being at the detail design stage for another home and with a third in the works \u2013 this vision of socially responsible architecture represents a compelling argument for the importance of design in the care system.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Buildings such as Koslowsky\u2019s children\u2019s home show how their architecture is not just about meeting basic needs but about empowering the individuals who inhabit them. In doing so, they offer a timely counter-narrative to the widespread standardisation in care homes, reminding us that care must be as unique as the children it serves.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Mahika Gautam is a freelance writer based in London<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

England\u2019s care home system has been under increasing scrutiny in recent years, grappling with issues of privatisation, regulatory failures, and chronic underinvestment. These challenges have exposed deep flaws in how care services \u2013 particularly for children \u2013 are structured and delivered in the UK.\u00a0 While the Children and Social Work Act 2017 and the 2022 …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":763875,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"ep_exclude_from_search":false},"categories":[721],"tags":[2443,1415,100393,1561],"yoast_head":"\nLighthouse Children\u2019s Home: a new model for child-centred design<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Architect Conrad Koslowsky tells Mahika Gautam how his design for a children\u2019s home in Sutton rejects the institutional environment found in many such places, instead creating an atmosphere where children can thrive\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link 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