Architects’ ‘enforced togetherness’: new design affordances of the home

Lockdown impositions have impacted people’s lives, their health and wellbeing, changing the ways in which dwellings are used occupied. Spaces within home had to be rapidly renegotiated, redesigned resynchronised not yet fully explored or understood. Social relationships shifted adapted as a result of ‘enforced togetherness’. This study presents rich snapshot 23 UK designer-architects’ transformative lived experiences lockdown, using an interpretative phenomenological approach. It identifies four critical socio-spatial affordances that rooted physical mental wellbeing architects/designers. ‘Individuality’ suggests need for increased separation alone. ‘Communality’ denotes household members together. Both individuality communality seen two opposite dimensions affordance home. ‘Adaptability’ points requirements flexible, decluttered versatile spaces enable ‘vibrancy’ ‘suffocation’. Finally, ‘connectivity’ encompasses strong connection between indoors outdoors. These must considered housing design, so new models can emerge. The use analysis, employing architectural tool drawing, is shown useful approach research. Practice relevance impact on households’ consequence Covid-19 lockdowns has led considerations future design. In post-Covid environment, particular needs been transformed. findings insights from this will help reframe existing conventions design criteria (e.g. reliance defining space functions) toward clearer set qualities inhabitant wellbeing. New involving individuality, communality, adaptability, connectivity viable highly appropriate. highlight how inhabitants’ included affordable housing.