Avenham District Housing Office

Avenham Housing Office formed an integral element of the D.I.C.E. (Design Improvement Controlled Experiment) scheme for the centre of Preston, Lancashire. The intiative, spearheaded by Professor Alice Coleman of Kings College (London) represented a 're-imagining' of Oscar Newman's "Defensible Space" research in the 1950's and sought to devise a scoring system for defined faults within the prevailing urban design, in order to address and resolve to the benefit of the community.

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One factor sorely missing was a presence of local housing support, and the new office was developed to this aim. Positioned centrally between the problematic 1960's tower blocks, the design aim was to provide a mutli purpose space for council and public use alike. The solution here being to create a top lit (clerestory) double height space wrapped by a solid 'defensive' perimeter of adminstrative spaces; all whilst retaining a more domestic (less institutional) feel to the visitor/user.