Successful design responds to local needs

The Dean of the Faculty at De Montfort University Leicester highlights how architecture is building a new future for a community in Ahmedabad. The value of architecture goes far beyond mere buildings - it can change lives and communities for the better. And perhaps nowhere is that more evident than in the gradual rebuilding of the Loving Community, on the outskirts of Ahmedabad in Gujarat. The Loving Community was established 40 years ago as a home for former lepers and their families, who had been forced to leave their villages because of the stigma surrounding leprosy. Today, the poor-quality single storey houses are not fit for purpose. During the monsoons, the residents' homes - often cramped, poorly-lit with limited ventilation - flood, forcing them to leave for months on end. In the summer, their homes become so hot that people are unable to occupy them for much of the day. The Loving Community is supported by local charity Manav Sadhna and it was through working with this group that DMU became involved in helping to improve the lives of people in the community. I met local architect Anand Sonecha, of SEALAB Architecture, and we discussed how the homes in the community could be redesigned to withstand these annual floods and improve the general living conditions of families. Together, we developed the designs for the first two homes to raise the buildings above the flood level and create light, more space and even a courtyard area for people to have a pleasant space to sit outside. We were keen to involve our architecture students as much as possible, to give them a real-life experience of design, housing standards and dealing with clients. Our PhD students interviewed members of the Loving Community about their daily lives to get an idea of what would be most useful. Anand has subsequently worked closely with community leaders and held meetings with local businesses to ensure that as many materials as possible could be sourced within the area and supported employment within the community itself. He has also developed detailed designs for further homes. It was critical that the community were involved in every part of the project and they were the ones who developed the brief for what was needed and chose which homes were rebuilt and in which order. This was done by initially the community identifying which homes were a priority for redevelopment and then developing the process for selection. Every time new homes are being selected for redevelopment, residents' names go into a hat and are drawn out to keep the process fair. In addition, a fixed cost for construction for each home was set at approximately £5000. Now work will begin on the next homes to be rebuilt. Work began on the first two homes in April 2018, with the cost of work met by support from Graham Cartledge, Jane Grant and contributions from DMU staff and students, as well as the local community in Leicester - a city with a significant Gujarati-origin population. In addition, Pick Everard sponsored a member of their staff an architectural assistant and DMU graduate, Nish Tailor, to project manage the student engagement. The new houses have been designed to be comfortable and energy efficient with carefully positioned openings for cross ventilation, providing a cool and light environment. Previously, the old homes had only a single opening, which didn't allow for sufficient lighting or ventilation, making them almost uninhabitable.

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