What is Social Value?

You may have heard of the term Social Value - it means the added benefit to people; it is not a monetary value. According to the RIBA Social Value Toolkit 'The social value of architecture is about fostering positive emotions through connections with nature or offering opportunities for an active lifestyle, connecting people and the environment in appropriate ways and providing the flexibility to pursue different lifestyles and autonomy.'

What is the Happy Homes Project?

The Happy Homes Toolkit Project (HHT) is a two-year research project that explores how homes can be designed to ensure long-term benefits to residents’ quality of life.

Through interviews and visits to residents’ homes, Pollard Thomas Edwards (PTE) is building a data bank, in collaboration with a Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) with the University of Reading (School of Architecture) and Cambridge University (Department of Architecture), to show how spaces stimulate positive emotions in those who inhabit them.

The HHT focuses feedback at the scale of the home and its immediate context. It will help designers to create homes based on direct evidence from residents and selected case studies, and will allow clients to understand and demonstrate the social value of the homes they deliver. In the long term, the toolkit will generate a significant database to explore patterns and new strategies for creating value through design.

At the end of the two year KTP in October we will launch an evaluation tool (beta version) that will offer users:
  • A numerical/alphabetic score for the embodied social value of their completed housing development;
  • A breakdown of scores for different elements of the development that will assist in its management, and offer lessons based on lived experience for future developments.

​Following this, PTE will lead the development of a Revit plug-in to add information to architectural elements that will inform architects as they design about the likely social value influences of their design decisions, enabling the client, design team and planners to evaluate cost, policy and quality characteristics against evidenced social value metrics. These design decisions can then be analysed post occupation, improving the accuracy and value of the data set.
King Square resident 
Social value at King Square

Gloria Vargas Palma

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Social Value Design Research Associate Dr Gloria Vargas Palma is developing PTE’s Social Value Toolkit.

An experienced researcher, Gloria has worked on many design schemes incorporating findings from different avenues of research to inform social value delivery. Her architectural design experience spans large scale commercial new builds, including hotels, office buildings, residential and mixed-use, as well as the refurbishment of Grade II listed buildings.

Combining her skills in social sciences research, data analysis and architectural design, Gloria uses a methodical and creative approach to achieve carefully considered solutions that improve people’s daily lives.
Taxonomy workshop at Pollard Thomas Edwards 
Questions

If you have any questions, please contact Dr. Gloria Vargas, Research Associate (School of the Built Environment, University of Reading) [email protected]
​020 7336 7777
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