LIVINHOME/WOODVIEW MEWS

New Housing Model
Livinhome is a housing model that is transferable, scalable, and suitable for single houses through to urban blocks. It allows alterations and additions to accommodate different life patterns and lifecycles and can change its use to adapt to an evolving urban or commercial context. There are a number of standard layouts onto which a range of exteriors and interiors can be fitted, reflecting the owners’ design and life choices.

Research Depth
Livinhome was developed following significant research into housing construction methodologies. It is a flexible design based on a repeatable plan layout/common chassis, with context-specific façades and street frontages. Flexibility is achieved by the inclusion of simple, pre-determined interventions delivering adaptable accommodation based on integrating a range of different design and policy standards.

Design Standards
The design is suitable for public or private sector housing and is based on relevant public sector design standards including the London Plan Housing Design Guide. As far as practically possible, Livinhome is designed to meet Code for Sustainable Homes Level 4.

Learning From Other Sectors
Office design often allows for adaptive space to meet different functions. This principle and our experience in the sector informed the standardised but flexible layout options in Livinhome. In addition, the prescriptive requirements of Heath Technical Memoranda of healthcare design influenced the detail and design of rooms for healthcare delivery in the home.

Standardised Design, Variable Appearance, Scalable Delivery.
By designing a standardised chassis able to take different elevation treatments, we created a scalable component that had the potential for large volume manufacture. Whilst having many standardised components and parts, Livinhome is flexible enough to be context-sensitive (all the pilot projects are in very different locations).

Off-site Manufacture, On-Site Assembly
The design of the dwelling and procurement became inseparable. We identified key packages that would benefit from linking to long term supply chain involvement in design and delivery; for example, superstructure, doors and door sets, windows and heating. Our ambition was to create a zero wet trade (from above ground floor slab) product.

Cost and Better Cost Predictability
Our standardised design made a significant contribution to cost savings, supply chain predictability and the creation of a mature supply chain. Waste was reduced during construction as design and construction details can be recycled from site to site. The predictability of the design shortened the speed of delivery and construction programmes resulting in cost savings.

Planning
Livinhome’s ability to change to different sized dwellings can be a challenge for Planning Authorities. While Planning Departments have been actively supportive of the concept, they require certainty over what has been consented. As a result, planning approval has generally been awarded on a fixed unit mix. If this changed during the life of the building, then separate planning applications would need to be lodged.