Re-Focus E15
Tropisms, Eco-Responsive Environments, Elena Tamosiunaite, Yasmin Lennon Chong, Marie-Louise Jones and Focus E15 Campaign
Reinventing temporary accommodation for the needs of mothers and children
Re-Focus E15 is based on the premise that temporary accommodation should be at least as good as permanent housing. The proposal focuses on Victoria Street temporary accommodation, converted in 1993 to host young adults and lone mothers. It is owned by Newham Council – the London borough with the highest rate of homeless people in England and where women are most in need. Outdated in facilities and inadequate in its idea of ‘temporary’, by May 2023 the remaining 60 families will be rehoused, providing the council with a unique opportunity to rethink their offer.
Concentrating on women and single mothers, the proposal is shaped around experiences of residents of Focus E15 – a campaign born in 2013 by a group of mothers resisting eviction to unaffordable private rented homes away from their support networks.
By reconfiguring and extending existing buildings, environmental impact is minimised while spatial qualities are improved with private amenity and communal areas. Movable partitions, enhanced acoustic and thermal insulation and mixed-use communal areas all adapt efficiently to fluctuating needs. Meanwhile, a furniture bank associated with a recycling make-it-yourself workshop gives mums the agency to customise their homes. To support maintenance and management, opportunities for small-scale income generation and outreach activities bring rent revenue from commercial units and workspaces.
The proposed accommodation is economically and environmentally resilient without compromising the dignity of the women and children who live there – with safer, more secure and comfortable units and shared gardens, food growth areas, workspaces, outreach nursery and workshops.
Tropisms
German Nieva, Architect
Eco-Responsive Environments
Prachi Rampuria, Urbanist
Soham De, Urbanist
Yasmin Lennon-Chong, Designer
Marie-Louise Jones, Artist
Elena Tamosiunaite, Curator, Landscape Architect
Focus E15 Campaign
End users – women and mums
