Bethan Crouch

Few contemporary home-based workers live and work in conditions that suit them.

My design proposal follows on from thesis research which advocated ways in which architectural design could improve spatial conditions for urban homeworkers, answering the question implied by the quote above: what could an urban block designed for homeworking look like? The theoretical conclusions of the Autumn semester’s work were then tested on a site on the edge of Nottingham city centre, proposing a mixed-use programme with overlapping aspects of live/work, co-housing and co-working.  

Studio 4, Territories of Transformation, emphasises the importance of locating architecture within the city, reflecting on its potential, and tasking it with a contribution back to the wider urban area. My proposal utilises this ethos, prioritising benefits to the wider urban community as well as its residents. Spaces for social interactions and moments of encounter are considered across all scales, allowing homeworkers a sense of community with shared knowledge transference and support to replicate, and better, that of a workplace outside the home.