Currently the demand on housing in the UK is being met by private sector housing. A study carried out by the RIBA shows 31% of people would not consider buying a home built in the last ten years, or would only consider it as a last resort. Of these, 60% said it was because rooms are too small, 46% said they lack style, and 45% were concerned about the overall lack of space. The same study demonstrates that the average new home in England is 92% of the recommended minimum size. The diagram below illustrates a comparison between the average UK house size and the European equivalent. (CABE, 2009)
Through analysis of EU Housing statistics in 2005, Policy Exchange and Localis found that new homes in the UK not only appeared to be shrinking, but were also the smallest in Western Europe. Consumers in Ireland could expect new homes to be 15% bigger, in the Netherlands they were 53% bigger and in Denmark, the average newly built home was 80% bigger than in the UK. (Roberts-Hughes, 2011)
From a sample of 1,159 homes in England across 41 sites the average one bedroom home was found to be 46m² which is 4m² short of the recommended minimum size.
From a sample of 3,418 homes across 71 sites the average three bedroom home was found to be 88m² which is 8m² short of the recommended minimum size. This lack of space results in overcrowding; the wider rami cations of which have been shown to impact on health and costs to the NHS, estimated by the BRE at £21,815,546 per year.( Roys M, Davidson M, Nicol S, Ormandy D and Ambrose P, 2010) An ECOTEC report demonstrated that children in better quality homes are gaining a greater number of GCSE’s, ‘A’ levels and degrees resulting in increased earning power. “Purely based
on differences in GCSE results, we calculate the bill amounts to £14.8 billion pounds in lost earnings forecast for this generation in poor housing.” (Friedman D, Social impact of poor
housing, (ECOTEC, March 2010) A contributing factor in the lack of spatial quality in many mass market homes may be due to the regular layout and the ratio of ground fl oor to first fl oor areas. In most cases this will be 1:1 as this is the most effi cient division of space which therefore creates the smallest house footprint. In a traditional layout every room has the same basic proportions with a uniform height.
In this design process little consideration is given to the procession through or the relation of one space to another. The idea of threshold manifests itself in the most basic and blunt terms
via the front door, the portal through which you enter the building, only to be constricted in the confi nes of a vestibule or worse; immediately thrown into the principal living space. Little, if
any, thought is given to the orientation in relation to landscape and by extension the connection between interior and exterior. The plan arrangement is exposed, rather than explicitly expressed, thereby leaving little opportunity for intrigue, and the subsequent excitement of discovery.
Alternatively the closed corridors often found upstairs present a collection of doors leading to spaces as imaginative as the one left behind. This stagnant composition creates a joyless, utilitarian movement through the house, driven by the immediate needs of the user. Instead, a considered circulation via controlled thresholds through volumes of varied proportion and scale
which relate not only to themselves but also the exterior, seek to evoke an emotional response from the observer in experiencing the spaces, as well as the transitions between them.
The visual experience is however only part of the overall sensations of a space. Deprived through the gratuitously banal dashing of magnolia, laminate kitchens, linoleum fl oors and
polyester carpet is any sense of touch, smell, sound and temperature. Our experiences of the fabric which constitute space are further muted as these are denied the opportunity to sing, in
light and the warmth this brings, which enters the room through windows whose dimensions have been determined by SAP calculations. Intended to ensure comfort during temperature
fluctuations over the seasons, the resulting reality is one where the numbers would suggest that openings in the facade should be kept to a minimum.
Encompassing all of these elements in the design has the potential to elevate the base outcome generated by the geometric planning puzzle, energy performance calculation and building regulations; i.e. “the developer house”, to become architecture.
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