Ex-RIBA North director joins Urban Splash

House by Urban Splash, the modular construction arm of the Manchester-based developer, has appointed Suzy Jones as director of a new division aimed at researching the future of housing and living.

Jones will head up the new division of House by Urban Splash called Live Well by Design, tasked with exploring the impact of technology, environmental change and demographic shifts on people may want and need to live in the future.

Jones was previously director of RIBA North, the regional chapter of the Royal Institute of British Architects, for four years, and prior to that she was director of Suzy Jones Projects, a curation and cultural project management company.

Before that, the designer and visual arts graduate was programme manager at the Storey Gallery in Lancaster for five years.

Jones said: “This is an incredibly exciting time to be thinking about the future of how we live and the ways in which design can improve our sense of place, our health and wellbeing, and the impact we have on the planet.”

“The global pandemic has us all thinking about what ‘home’ means and about how we might need different things from our homes now and in the future.

“At the same time, the climate crisis demands that we find a new approach to how we design and build our homes, what we build from and how we can use new and old technologies to lessen our impact on the planet.”

Urban Splash is “well known for design and innovation”, she added, and “now we have a space to invest and focus on its underpinnings and innovation”.

House by Urban Splash builds homes using modern methods of construction such as off-site modular techniques. It is owned by Urban Splash in partnership with Japan’s largest housebuilder Sekisui House and government agency Homes England.

Other shareholders include architect and TV presenter George Clarke, and We Buy Any Car founder and tech entrepreneur Noel McKee.

House by Urban Splash is currently building homes in Merseyside, Greater Manchester and Cumbria, as well as other sites in Birmingham, Cambridgeshire and Milton Keynes.

Earlier this month, House by Urban Splash completed 17 canalside town houses on Piercy Street in Manchester’s New Islington, which were designed and manufactured at the company’s factory in Alfreton.

House by Urban Splash co-founder Jonathan Falkingham said: “The world is at a pivotal point in history where the design and construction of our built environment, specifically our homes, can and will shape the future of the planet and the way we choose to live.

“Our partnership with Homes England and Sekisui House was the perfect catalyst to take House to the next stage and bring Suzy in to help us shape the future of housing and the way we live.”

 

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