24 Jun London Festival of Architecture 2019

Humanising Homelessness: A Duty of Care

We recently organised a debate as part of the London Festival of Architecture 2019 at Sessions House in Clerkenwell – kindly hosted by our friends at Ennismore.

Our discussion focused on our recent project for charity Shelter from the Storm – London’s only FREE homeless shelter – which provides 38 beds, food and support to its guests to help them get back on their feet. It also serves the wider community by inviting local people to use its facilities through its public cafe and shop.

We talked about the work of the organisation, beyond the simple provision of shelter, in particular our experience of the extreme challenges the project has faced in terms of planning, funding, public perception and government policy, and invited the founder of SFTS, the project architect and government representatives to discuss their experiences on the topic and question our preconceptions of what a homeless shelter can be.

With thanks to our speakers:

Chloe Anderson
Project Architect, Holland Harvey

Helen Cuthbert
Director, Planning Potential

Martina Luger
CMO, Ennismore

Sheila Scott
Founder, Shelter from the Storm

Diarmaid Ward
Executive Member for Housing & Development, Islington Council

Oliver Waddington-Ball
Head of Custom Content & Partnerships, The Big Issue

James Tompsett
Rough Sleeping Commissioning Manager, Westminster City Council