Association for Rental Living announces launch of new Design Committee
- Bringing design excellence to all aspects of rental living
- John Badman of Gensler to serve as Chair
- Sophie Gunn of Packaged Living to serve as Vice-Chair
- Design Committee will identify and respond to sector needs and opportunities
The Association for Rental Living, the membership body for all institutionally backed, professionally managed purpose-built rental living sectors, has announced the launch of its brand-new Design Committee. The committee is tasked with bringing design excellence to all aspects of rental living, through collaboration, research and insight.
John Badman, Residential Practice Leader at Gensler, will Chair the new Design Committee with Sophie Gunn, Associate Director at Packaged Living serving as Vice-Chair.
The Association for Rental Living has tasked the new Committee with identifying and responding to sector needs and opportunities, Badman comments:
“Best practice design decisions in the rental living sector have enormous power to positively influence everything from sustainability credentials to build costs and resident satisfaction. Everyone including operators and investors has a crucial stake in the design of Build to Rent accommodation and other rental living sector homes. The creation of the Association for Rental Living Design Committee speaks to the importance of this and of our commitment to excellence across every aspect of the sector.”
The Association for Rental Living has already highlighted the importance of design as part of its Best Practice Guide. The Design Committee will take this work forward, auditing, updating and expanding the design-focused aspects of the guide. It will also deliver a presentation for use across the industry, explaining the unique design variances of Build to Rent and Co-living developments to local authorities, case officers and other relevant parties. External policy consultation and support for the design industry to sign up to the Code of Practice will also fall within the new committee’s remit.
To facilitate its important work, the Design Committee will draw on expertise from across the rental living sector. In addition to Gensler’s John Badman, the committee will include members from Assael Architecture, Formation Architects, Packaged Living, Collado Collins, Chapman Taylor, Grid, Greystar and Keppie Design. Brendan Geraghty, CEO of the Association for Rental Living and architect, will also be part of the committee’s membership. He comments:
“There is a huge opportunity to support design excellence across all aspects of rental living. This can have a major impact – hence the establishment of the Design Committee. We look forward to highlighting and promoting research-led best practice across the sector, while also supporting local authorities to ensure their populations have a choice of high-quality homes.”
The Design Committee will be working alongside the Association for Rental Living’s eight other committees and four working groups, as well as its six regional hubs, which extend across the UK and Australia, for the sharing of international best practice.
For more information, please visit www.theARL.org.uk.