‘Back to normal? … Absolutely not!’, from: Bruno Latour, ‘What protectivemeasures can you think of so we don’t go back to the pre-crisis production model?’, March 2020 → read more
The way we work is changing. The Workhome Project advocates design and policy norms that make this change work – for communities, cities and the environment.
Millions of people are now working from home in an unexpected global experiment triggered by Covid-19. Many employers and employees are finding this works for them. The benefits of this shift are potentially transformative.
‘Back to normal? … Absolutely not!’, from: Bruno Latour, ‘What protectivemeasures can you think of so we don’t go back to the pre-crisis production model?’, March 2020 → read more
30 September 2020
In this blog post, Jeremy Porteus – a member of our team and Chief Executive of the Housing Learning Improvement Network – provides an outline of how ten years since the original HAPPI report, the ten ‘care ready’ HAPPI design principles can be recalibrated to incorporate ‘work ready’ adjustments to accommodate a growing number of people of all ages, but especially in later life, who want or will be working from home or may require live in care and support, such as personal assistant, now or in future, to meet their changing work patterns and lifestyles.
Working from home is becoming the new norm – while white collar workers have benefited, it has increased inequality for many working class employees. Here more about these issues on our latest podcast, ‘Social Inequality and the Workhome’, with Dr Frances Holliss and Richard Brown.
3 November 2020
On 28 October 2020, Frances Hollis was spoke at an online seminar hosted by Schueco UK and Architecture Today which explored the latest thinking on a return to the office, the importance of design for work in the most significant new workplace – the home – as well recent examples of innovation in the commercial sector. The video is now available to watch online.
19 August 2020
Home working during the coronavirus pandemic appears to be a success for those whose jobs can be done remotely and who have enough space at home. Surveys show that many of us are happier, healthier, less stressed, sleeping better, walking the dog instead of going to the gym, having lunch with our families – and not missing the commute at all. We are considerably more productive, too. It’s a win, win.
But this is not the whole story and the statistics are stark. In May 2020, mid-pandemic, most white-collar workers in the UK were safely working at home full-time – but this compares with only one in five manual workers. From bus driver to nurse, labourer to care worker – these jobs cannot be carried out in the home. Read Frances Hollis’s article in the Guardian on why Working from home is a luxury many renters in the UK can ill afford.
Workhome Project's Frances Holliss wrote this in 2012 - it remains completely relevant
Important news, but mandating home-based work is not the answer - it discriminates against those who do not have appropriate space.
This article in The New York Times suggests that working at home may unshackle you from the constraints and timetable of the office, and allow you to take more control of your life.
Read on →
Norman Foster hopes for shared global action on big environmental and health issues; and local action in making, growing and powering connected societies – but only gives a passing nod to home-based work in this article for the Guardian.
Read on →
More on the 15-minute City: ‘Electric cars won't solve our pollution problems – Britain needs a total transport rethink’. We agree with George Montbiot that the solution is better urban design and housing.
Read on →
Wed 28 Oct 2020, 10am
Among the many changes brought about by the Coronavirus pandemic has been the upsurge in people working from home. This has accelerated a trend that began more than two decades ago and shows no sign of slowing post-Covid. An online seminar hosted by Schueco UK and Architecture Today explored the latest thinking on a return to the office, the importance of design for work in the most significant new workplace – the home – as well recent examples of innovation in the commercial sector. The panel comprised Dr Frances Holliss, Workhome Project, School of Art, Architecture & Design, London Metropolitan University; Mat Hunter, Co-CEO of Plus X; and Carl Turner, founding director of Turner Works.
WatchTalksWatch Online
Thu 23 Jul 2020, 5pm
Covid-19 has forced a global experiment in home-based work that has exposed – and increased – glaring social inequalities. For those with plenty of space and access to a garden, lockdown is proving a tolerable – and for some positively enjoyable – experience. The opposite is true for social tenants in small, overcrowded apartments with little or no outside space. Architect and academic Frances Holliss, who has been researching and writing about the architecture of home-based work at LondonMet’s Workhome Project for more than a decade, will explore the continuing impact of the historic disapproval of home-based work on housing design today – and the disproportional impact this has on BAME communities. In the context of the emerging social, economic and environmental benefits of this working practice, Holliss will propose design for home-based work, including non-knowledge work, as an integral aspect of all future urban and housing design.
WatchTalksWatch on Youtube
Tue 21 Jul 2020, 5pm
This event features Claudia Dutson, (RCA) who is researching the spatial and architectural tactics of Silicon Valley, in conversation with Frances Holliss, Director of the Workhome Project and international expert on the architecture of home-based work, speaking about the implications of the global experiment in home-based work during Covid-19.
TalksWatch Online
Fri 17 Apr 2020, 8pm
In a special edition of Over Wonen gesproken ON AIR Architect Eireen Schreurs gave a lecture on the publication of DASH15 Home Work City. Together with the DASH-editorial team she explored the spatial and cultural impact of working on urban domestic culture. They unlock, from an international perspective, contemporary and historical references on architectural type and urban context at the level of the building block. In an online conversation with British architect and researcher Frances Holliss (London Metropolitan University) they have explored what might be learned about live-work connections in times of Covid-19.
WatchTalksWatch on Youtube