•  
  •  
 

Abstract

Inhabitants of UK housing have more possessions than ever, whilst space for living in standardised houses is at a premium. The acquisition of material possessions, and how it affects both space and inhabitants’ wellbeing, has not previously been considered in architectural practice or housing policy research fields. This paper addresses this gap, by exploring how practising architects design for the storage of material possessions in housing. For the first time, it places storage practices at the centre of housing design thinking, by engaging practising architects in a design intervention to explore original design solutions that support inhabitants’ lives and lifestyles, and therefore their wellbeing. The study uses a new storage-focused conceptual design framework to seek design knowledge, to better understand how storage practices could be considered when designing. The findings have implications for design practice research, providing an account of how architects consider storage in housing design, drawing on novel design intervention methods.

Publication Date

7-31-2021

References

Bentley, I. (1999). Urban transformations: Power, people and urban. Routledge.

Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment. (2005). What home buyers want: Attitudes and decision making among consumers.https://www.mae.co.uk/assets/pdfs/151123_Mae_Architects_What_Home_Buyers_Want_Housing_Architecture.pdf

Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment. (2009). Space in new homes: What residents think.https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20110118105129/http://www.cabe.org.uk/files/space-in-new-homes.pdf

Creswell, J. W. (2007). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches (2nd ed.). SAGE.

Cwerner, S. & Metcalfe, A. (2003). Storage and clutter: Discourses and practices of order in the domestic world. Journal of Design History, 16(3), 229–239. https://www.jstor.org/stable/1316333

Department for Communities and Local Government. (2015). Technical housing standards: Nationally described space standards.https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/524531/160519_Nationally_Described_Space_Standard____Final_Web_version.pdf

Designing for Well-being in Environments for Later Life (DWELL). (n.d.). About. Retrieved March 20, 2019, from https://dwell.group.shef.ac.uk/about/

Dittmar, H. (1991). Meanings of material possessions as reflections of identity: Gender and socio-material position in society. Journal of Social Behaviour and Personality, 6(6), 165–186.

Eastman, J. K., Goldsmith, R. E., & Flynn, L. R. (1999). Status consumption in consumer behaviour: Scale development and validation. Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice, 7(3), 41–52. https://doi.org/10.1080/10696679.1999.11501839

Eustance, P. (2018). Housing research at the intersection of theory and practice: The case of HTA Design. The Journal of Architecture, 23(1), 162–167. https://doi.org/10.1080/13602365.2018.1429361

Gaver, B., Dunne, T., & Pacenti, E. (1999). Design: Cultural probes. Interactions, 6(1), 21–29. https://doi.org/10.1145/291224.291235

Hand, M., Shove, E., & Southerton, D. (2007). Home extensions in the United Kingdom: Space, time, and practice. Environment and Planning D: Society and Space, 25(1), 668–681. https://doi.org/10.1068/d413t

Hooper, A., & Nicol, C. (2000). Design practice and volume production in speculative housebuilding. Construction Management and Economics, 18(3), 295–310. https://doi.org/10.1080/014461900370663

Imrie, R. (2006). Accessible housing: Quality, disability and design. Routledge.

Jenkins, P., & McLachlan, F. (2010). Is there a rôle for architects in mainstream private sector house building? The Journal of Architecture, 15(2), 153–180. https://doi.org/ 10.1080/13602361003791036

Luck, R. (2007). Using artefacts to mediate understanding in design conversations. Building Research & Information, 35(1), 28–41. https://doi.org/10.1080/09613210600879949

Madeddu, M., Gallent, N., & Mace, A. (2015). Space in new homes: Delivering functionality and liveability through regulation or design innovation? Town Planning Review, 86(1), 73–95. https://www.jstor.org/stable/24579283

Marco, E., Williams, K., & Oliveira, S. (2020). Too much ‘stuff’ and the wrong space: A conceptual framework of material possessions. Interiority, 3(2), 219–242. https://doi.org/10.7454/in.v3i2.78

Mayor of London (2010). London Housing Design Guide. London Development Agency.

Miles, S. (1998). Consumerism as a way of life. SAGE.

Morgan, M., & Cruickshank, H. (2014). Quantifying the extent of space shortages: English dwellings. Building Research & Information, 42(6), 710–724. https://doi.org/10.1080/09613218.2014.922271

O'Cass, A., & McEwen, H. (2004). Exploring consumer status and conspicuous consumption. Journal of Consumer Behaviour, 4(1), 25–39. https://doi.org/10.1002/cb.155

Park, J. (2017). One hundred years of housing space standards: What now? Levitt and Bernstein.

Richins, M. L., (1994). Valuing things: The public and private meanings of possessions. Journal of Consumer Research, 21(3), 504–521. https://doi.org/10.1086/209414

Rodrigues, C., & Brandão, A. (2020). Measuring the effects of retail brand experiences and brand love on word of mouth: A cross-country study of IKEA brand. The International Review of Retail, Distribution and Consumer Research, 31(1), 78–105. https://doi.org/10.1080/09593969.2020.1768577

Rojek, C. (2011). Leisure and the rich today: Veblen’s thesis after a century. Leisure Studies, 19(1), 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1080/026143600374806

Rose, G. (2007). Visual methodologies: An introduction to the interpretation of visual Materials (2nd ed.). SAGE.

Rose, G. (2014). On the relation between ‘visual research methods’ and contemporary visual culture. The Sociological Review, 62(1), 24–46. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-954X.12109

Roster, C. A., Ferrari, J., & Jurkat, M. P. (2016). The dark side of home: Assessing possessions ‘clutter’ on subjective well-being. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 46, 32–41. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2016.03.003

Samuels, F. (2017). Supporting research in practice. The Journal of Architecture, 22(1), 4–10. https://doi.org/10.1080/13602365.2017.1280288

Schneider, T., & Till, J. (2007). Flexible housing. Architectural Press.

Shenk, D., Kuwahara, K., & Zablotsky, D. (2004). Older women’s attachments to their home possessions. Journal of Aging Studies, 18(2), 157–169. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaging.2004.01.006

Smith, G. V., & Ekerdt, D. J. (2011). Confronting the material convoy in later life. Sociological Inquiry, 81(3), 377–391. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-682X.2011.00378.x

Wallace, J., McCarthy, J., Wright, P., & Olivier, P. (2013). Making design probes work. In: CHI 2013: Changing Perspectives. Paris, 27 April–2 May 2013.

West, B., & Emmitt, S. (2004). Functional design? An analysis of new speculative house plans in the UK. Design Studies, 25(3), 275–299. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.destud.2003.10.002

Wilson, W., & Barton, C. (2018). Tackling the under-supply of housing in England. House of Commons Library. Briefing Paper Number 07671.

Williams, K. (2009). Space per person in the UK: A review of densities, trends, experiences and optimum levels. Land Use Policy, 26(1), S83–S92. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2009.08.024

Submitted Date

2020-07-14

Accepted Date

2020-12-28

First Page

223

Last Page

248

Authors' Bio

Elena Marco
elena.marco@uwe.ac.uk

Professor Elena Marco studied architecture at the Universidad Politecnica de Catalunya and the University of Bath. She has worked as an architect in Spain and the UK for over 10 years, where she built a strong profile in sustainable design. Now in academia, she continues to develop her research interests, which focus on the crossover between health, sustainability and architecture.

Katie Williams
katie4.williams@uwe.ac.uk

Professor Katie Williams is an urban theorist, planner and urban designer. She is Director of the Centre for Sustainable Planning and Environments. Professor Williams specialises in sustainable urban environments and is known for her work on sustainable neighbourhood design, urban form and land reuse. She has undertaken evidence-based critiques of many key urban policies such as sustainable communities and the urban renaissance.

Sonja Oliveira
sonja.dragojlovic-oliveira@uwe.ac.uk

Dr Sonja Oliviera trained in architecture and has held numerous senior design posts in award winning firms globally. Her research expertise is built on developing new insights in energy simulation and design practice across scales of analysis from policy level, organizational dynamics in implementing new digital technologies in design to household heating practices in low carbon architecture.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Author(s) retain the copyright of articles published in this journal, with first publication rights granted to Interiority.

Share

COinS