Shortlisted in Habinteg’s 50th Anniversary Essay Competition!

We are delighted to share that our Diversity Champion, Clare Bond, is a finalist in Habinteg’s 50^th Anniversary Essay Competition!

Habinteg

Habinteg Housing Association is a social housing provider delivering and promoting accessible homes and communities across England and Wales. At the heart of their ethos is a belief that having an accessible home in an inclusive setting can transform the lives of disabled people and those around them. Sarah Wigglesworth Architects strongly agree with Habinteg’s vision for communities to include disabled people, offering places to live that meet their needs and provide the highest levels of independence, choice and control over daily life.

The Essay

“As with a sustainable, zero carbon approach to construction, when considering inclusivity a circular process is required to truly embed resilience into the design and construction of homes and neighbourhoods.”

The essay competition asked entrants to consider how the design and construction of homes and neighbourhoods could develop over the next 50 years in order to be inclusive regardless of impairment. In response, Clare proposed a 3 Stage Framework that architects and designers can follow, which we are excited to share with you very soon!

Clare talks about why she entered the competition:

“I see my roles as architect and diversity champion at Sarah Wigglesworth Architects as intertwined, and I feel the growing need to use this platform I have to facilitate conversations for change within the design and construction of our built environment. If architects out there aren’t questioning our industry, I’m asking you why not?! It’s no secret that our industry’s approach to inclusivity (and EDI in general) needs to improve, but rather than just pointing out all that’s wrong in the industry, I wanted to enter this competition to propose a framework that designers can follow, not only to create a more inclusive and diverse design process, but also more inclusive and diverse architectural education and architectural practice, because fundamentality these things are completely interdependent and must be thought about holistically.”

The winner will be announced at Habinteg’s virtual birthday celebration event on 12^th November. The event will mark Habinteg’s 50th year of championing accessible homes and inclusive neighbourhoods.

Good luck Clare!