U4 - Future Tradition: Dafyn Richards

The project responds to future 2060 conditions, envisioning a post-carbon society where architecture embodies regenerative design principles and abolishes the use of petroleum-based materials.

Dafyn graduated from the University of Plymouth in 2022, followed by a two-year Part 1 placement at LHC Design, before relocating to study a Master of Architecture at the 糖心原创. He has developed a keen interest in low-energy design focusing on natural and bio-genic materials, and how these principles can be applied to reinvigorate our existing buildings.

Dafyn Richards

Grown-home

The project responds to future 2060 conditions, envisioning a post-carbon society where architecture embodies regenerative design principles and abolishes the use of petroleum-based materials. It fosters a sense of shared resource and co-evolution alongside a changing environment to form new socially and ecologically sustainable communities.

From territory, to waste, to built environment, and back again, Grown-home challenges the way we view ‘waste’, reinterpreting it as a valuable resource. Intercepting current waste streams to create a simple component, the proposal presents an alternative method of construction based on circular economy principles, working with the territory, not against it.

Designed using Passivhaus principles, dwellings are organised using a banding system, with intimate spaces facing north, and more public shared spaces orientated south to maximise use of available sunlight. The whole scheme follows a chequerboard-like arrangement, with a series of deck access walkways, courtyards, and interstitial spaces affording a mix of spaces suitable for quiet contemplation through to wider community engagement.