Students from the Bartlett School of Architecture’s Architecture MSci programme are joining peers from three leading UK architecture schools to respond to one of the country’s most pressing challenges: designing healthy, affordable social housing.
Led by Murray Fraser, Professor of Architecture and Global Culture at the Bartlett, students from the Welsh School of Architecture, the Leicester School of Architecture, and the Edinburgh School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture are contributing designs to a three-week public exhibition in Bloomsbury.
A selection of the best designs from all four schools will go on display in the Bartlett’s ground floor gallery at 22 Gordon Street from 29 October 2026, alongside contributions from architectural practices and the UCL housing and health research team. The exhibition aims to inspire audiences to think beyond current headlines and endemic problems, and to imagine healthier housing as a major future asset for British society.
It is wonderful to see students across the country responding to our brief, with each school bringing different expertise and designs which relate to their location. The hope is that the exhibition will demonstrate the myriad ways that we can design better and more affordable housing in the UK and help show how crucial this is for our society.
The exhibition is part of the wider Healthy Homes for All festival, an interactive programme exploring housing, health and homelessness, presented by the Bartlett School of Architecture and the NIHR Applied Research Collaboration North Thames (led by Professor Rosalind Raine), and supported by UCLH Arts. The festival also includes a public art commission in the atrium of UCLH and a panel discussion, both taking place in October 2026.
We are delighted to be working with our students on one of the most pressing issues for architects today. Our students are exploring the potential for ‘dwelling differently’, focusing on such issues as quality, the experience of home as opposed to housing, and the relationship between dwellings and neighbourhoods, with designs inspired by the policy context in Wales.
More information
UCL Homes for All is directed by Rosalind Raine, Professor of Applied Health Research in the Department of Primary Care and Population Health, and Murray Fraser, Professor of Architecture and Global Culture at the Bartlett School of Architecture.
UCL Homes for All research includes two reports available to read online:
Image: Daylight testing model for terraced housing design by Ryan Chen, Architecture MSci 2026
2026 is the year in which we celebrate UCL’s bicentenary, marking 200 years since UCL’s establishment as the first university in London. On 11 February 2026, UCL will begin a year of celebration to mark our Bicentenary. UCL200 will be an exciting and varied programme of activities, events and storytelling, celebrating and reinforcing UCL’s commitment to our founding values, highlighting the excellence and impact of our groundbreaking work and people, and presenting an ambitious and inspiring portrait of our future.
Healthy Homes for All Festival
An interactive festival exploring housing, health and homelessness by the Bartlett School of Architecture & Faculty of Population Health Sciences.
Find out more