Dezeen Magazine

A proposal for rural co-living

Davidson Prize longlist features 14 proposals for co-living

The longlist for the second annual Davidson Prize highlights 14 concepts for co-living and the challenges of single-person and single-parent households, loneliness and the housing shortage.

Included in this year's longlist in response to the theme of Co-Living – A New Future is a proposal for a shared housing model to re-invigorate rural communities, a multi-generational co-living development designed around the needs of children and a concept for refugee integration.

Curious Minds Society proposal by Child Graddon Lewis, Split, Eley Kishimoto and Hungry Sandwich
The Curious Minds Society is a proposal for multi-generational living by Child Graddon Lewis, Split, Eley Kishimoto and Hungry Sandwich

Those participating in this year's prize, including architecture studios Charles Holland Architects, Tonkin Liu and artist Verity-Jane Keefe, were asked to consider whether current the UK's models for homes and home living are representative of the 21st century.

Some of the challenges addressed in each of the proposals focus on the growing single-person and single-parent households, loneliness and issues of mental health, housing shortages and responses to refugee crises.

The Davidson Prize is a design idea and communications prize that was established by the Alan Davidson Foundation in 2021 in memory of the Scottish architectural visualiser Alan Davidson, who died from Motor Neurone Disease (MND) in 2018.

A Taste of Home by Will King and Hari Kumar
A Taste of Home by Will King and Hari Kumar is a proposal for a community of refugees

"The calibre of submissions for this year’s prize was really impressive and it was interesting to see how people’s approaches to co-living may have changed in the aftermath of the pandemic," said chair of The Davidson Prize jury, Paul Monaghan.

"Although there are similarities in many of the submissions, each of the 14 longlisted teams put forward an innovative solution to this year’s theme."

"Each submission raised great discussions amongst the judges. I’m impressed with how the teams have expressed their ideas both with strong written statements and varied and interesting visuals," explained Alan Davidson Foundation director Marie Chamillard.

The second edition of the prize follows the success of the inaugural prize in 2021, which saw the app concept HomeForest by architects Haptic, creative studio Squint/Opera, sound designer Coda to Coda, bio-design specialist Yaoyao Meng and poet LionHeart selected as its winner.

Co-Living Works! by The Workhome Project
The Workhome Project addresses cross-generational issues of loneliness in its entry

The judging panel for this second edition includes artist Yinka Ilori, Dezeen's editor-at-large Amy Frearson, educator and curator Manijeh Verghese, as well as architects Paul Monaghan, Mary Duggan and Agnieszka Glowacka.

The panel will shortlist three finalists who will receive £5,000 to develop and expand their design concepts and ultimately present a two-minute visual presentation to the jury.

Afterlife by NAME Architecture and airc.digital
Afterlife by NAME Architecture and airc.digital proposes reinhabiting commercial buildings by transforming them into residential hubs

This year, the competition will also run a People's Choice Award, for which the general public is invited to vote for its favourite entry. Details about all 14 proposals can be found on the Davidson Prize website.

See the longlist in full below:

Azhar Architecture: Co-Living Retrofit
Baillie Baillie Architects and Community Land Scotland: A Culture of Community
Charles Holland Architects, Quality of Life Foundation, Verity-Jane Keefe and Joseph Zeal-Henry: Co-Living in The Countryside
› Child-Hood: It Takes A Village
Child Graddon Lewis, Split, Eley Kishimoto & Hungry Sandwich: Curious Minds Society
Heta Architects: Recipro-City
Living Streets: Urban Network of Collective Care
Moebius Studio: Communiversity
NAME Architecture and airc.digital: Afterlife
› Team 5: Retrofitting Co-Living
› The Progressive Housing Design Group: A Model for Progressive ‘Family’ Housing
Tonkin Liu: Care/Ring
› Will King and Hari Kumar: A Taste of Home
Workhome Projects: Co-Living Works!

More images

A proposal for rural co-living by Charles Holland Architects
Co-Living Retrofit by Azhar Architecture
A Culture of Community by Baillie Baillie Architects and Community Land Scotland
It Takes A Village by Child-Hood
Recipro-City by Heta Architects
Urban Network of Collective Care by Living Streets
Communiversity by Moebius Studio
Retrofitting Co-Living by Team 5
Communiversity by Moebius Studio
Care_Ring by Tonkin Liu
A Taste of Home by Will King and Hari Kumar
A Taste of Home by Will King and Hari Kumar is a proposal for a community of refugees