Master Planning for Happiness at Home

At a glance 

• Residents at The Granges in Windsor rated their quality of life lower than people in surrounding neighbourhoods. Abri now knocks every door every six months, from before demolition through to move in, to see whether the new homes change how people feel. 

• Signs, floors and handrails are often an afterthought, picked from a catalogue at the end of a project. On one regenerated estate, the exteriors of all tenures were identical, but the social rent entrances had circa 1975 blue plastic signs and cheap lino while the private entrances had a stone finish. 

• Well designed lighting helps residents find their way and feel safe at night. Planting that residents mention first and wide front steps to sit on give people reasons to meet. Residents who are content are expected to look after their homes better and stay longer, which lowers repair, turnover and void costs. 

 Paul Quinn, Regeneration and Strategic Asset Director at Abri, is overseeing The Granges in Windsor, where four 1960s tower blocks are being replaced by 413 affordable homes in a scheme of around £180 million. A baseline survey carried out before demolition found that residents rated their quality of life lower than people in surrounding neighbourhoods. 

Abri now repeats the survey every six months, knocking on doors through demolition, construction and move in. Three rounds are complete, with around half of residents responding. The aim is to find out whether the investment improves how people feel about their homes, neighbourhood and services. 

What residents notice at the front door 

Signage, communal floor finishes, handrails, door handles and taps are often ordered from a catalogue at the end of a project. They are also the first things a resident meets and touches on arriving home. 

On one regenerated estate, the exteriors of social rent, shared ownership and private homes were identical. Inside, the social rent entrances had circa 1975 blue plastic signs and cheap lino, while the private entrances had a stone finish. Residents visiting from another scheme registered the difference immediately. 

Choosing these items early does not necessarily raise cost. At The Granges, resident workshops have covered kitchens, worktops, communal paint finishes and feature walls. Additions of that kind might add £4,000 or £5,000 in a £180 million project. Considering what it feels like to arrive at the front door changes what is specified and how it is procured. 

Planting that residents mention first 

The Granges began with tarmac, garages and extensive surface car parking. On the first block of 61 homes, the podium garden was planned with a grassed area beside the planting. It was changed late to full planting with trees and embedded lighting, at some added cost, because grass would be trampled, lighting columns knocked over, and residents on the upper floors look down on the space. 

The Sutton Estate in Chelsea, a set of 1913 mansion blocks previously surrounded by tarmac and laurels, shows the result. The planting is stronger three years on than at installation, and residents mention landscape first. 

Planting is usually the last item installed before a contractor leaves site, so maintenance has to be settled in advance. Abri's grounds teams have been shown the planting regime, asked where they need water butts and machine access, and taken to see a planted podium in Reading. 

Steps, seating and light that bring neighbours together 

Seating and building orientation follow the human scale described in Jan Gehl's Life Between Buildings, where the first ten feet or so that a person interacts with matter most. The purpose is to give people reasons to linger and to meet. 

At Ravensbury in Mitcham, front steps raised for flood risk were built wider so residents can sit out and see their neighbours, facing drainage designed as part of the landscape. Places to pause need not be formal benches. A viewpoint serves, and a change of brick pattern at a corner helps people find their way. 

External lighting at twilight levels, without dark spots, gives an even light that feels safe at night. It also helps people find their way, since an entrance stays visible from 50 metres. Indoors, pendant lights are standard in Abri's employer's requirements but unsuitable for kitchens, and the hallway lighting in the one bed flats is being adjusted. 

Why belonging has a financial case 

Residents who are content are expected to look after their homes better and stay longer, which lowers repair costs, turnover and void periods. That makes the case relevant to finance and operations colleagues as well as design teams. 

The Neighbourhood and Community Standard requires registered providers to co-operate with partners to promote social, environmental and economic wellbeing in the areas where they provide social housing. A resident survey that runs before and after a scheme produces evidence relevant to that requirement. From a Healthy Homes Hub perspective, design that gives neighbours reasons to meet belongs alongside other health measures in the home, because social isolation is associated with poorer health and earlier death. 

Decisions made at master plan stage 

Landscape, lighting, entrances, seating and the orientation of buildings are decided at master plan stage, and schemes that leave them out cannot easily recover the original vision. Strong master planners are scarcer than good architects, and a well drawn plan is still readable on the ground a century later. The landscape architect belongs in the team at that stage. 

More people want to live independently in their own homes for longer, and few UK schemes yet build in flexibility for how households may change over 10, 50 and 100 years. Phoenix Community Housing has delivered a purpose built scheme in Lewisham where younger and older people live together and support one another.  

Practical steps for housing providers 

• Neighbourhood and Community Standard, Regulator of Social Housing: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/neighbourhood-and-community-standard  

• Review the employer’s requirements before tender and list every item left to be bought from a catalogue at the end, such as signage, lighting, communal floor finishes and handrails. 

• Involve residents in choosing those finishes alongside kitchens and worktops. 

• Bring the landscape architect into the brief at master plan stage, ask grounds teams where they need machine access and water butts, and specify planting where grass would be trampled. 

• Light external areas to avoid dark spots and keep entrances visible from a distance, rather than lighting every surface brightly. 

• Take a baseline of how residents feel about their homes, neighbourhood and services before work starts, repeat it at set intervals, and read it alongside repairs, turnover and void data. 

• Test master plans against how households may change over 50 to 100 years, including more people living independently for longer. 

• Visit completed schemes with design, operations and finance colleagues, so the case for early design decisions is shared across those functions

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