Rights of Passage



An architects brief for a new kind of sanctuary reception centre, submitted for the Davidson Prize, March 2023. The third annual Davidson Prize was 'Somewhere to Call Home'; it asked multi-disciplinary teams to communicate innovative design solutions for a home community where people who have experienced the trauma of homelessness and housing insecurity are given time to settle, recover and find their bearings.

The project was led by Margaret Ravenscroft, with Coffey Architects, Dion Barrett, Soft Cities, Rooms for Refugees and Anna Ball at Vanclaron CIC, and co-designed with asylum-seeking community members currently in Home Office temporary accommodation. The result was a group-built community and scalable sanctuary for asylum seekers.

2023

Socially engaged creative practice

Collective members: Anna Ball, Margaret Ravenscroft

A conceptual illustration of a community space with large windows, greenery, and people engaging in activities. The space features a seating area with colorful cushions, a white wardrobe, and a woman teaching or presenting at a blackboard. There are handwritten notes, sketches, and digital devices around the illustration, emphasizing ideas related to asylum seekers' rights and community building.
“You are an asylum seeker. You must leave your home because of war, famine, economic insecurity, human rights violations or some other traumatising event.

You escape through a series of ‘passages’ in search of sanctuary: a boat, a lorry, a long and unknown road. But far from being pathways to safety, these are restrictive and often dangerous routes. They deter self-actualisation and stifle hope.

Even once you have reached the UK – your supposed place of safety – you face new, hostile passages: detention in a ‘reception’ centre; no right to work; unsustainable financial restrictions; homelessness.

Rights of Passage diverts asylum seekers from the experiences of corrosive passages, instead welcoming people to a place where they can start to build.

A new community building with co-living accommodation above becomes a true ‘reception’ centre. Here people can live amongst a like-minded community, learn useful skills, meet a lawyer or social worker, rest and regain dignity. From this space, residents can also co-design and deliver a group-build development that will occupy the remainder of the site, including their own homes.

This is a collaborative, productive and practical activity that heals, soothes and engages. Finally, you have the agency to create your own characteristic, safe passages into a new life.

As you move from your temporary co-living accommodation into your newly built home, space is freed up for others seeking safety – who will iteratively add their distinctive homes to the development, too. This repeatable model of hospitable, co-delivered communities provides new Rights of Passage into the fabric of UK society.”
Digital illustration of a wooden greenhouse structure, with plants and trees inside and outside, and cartoon birds flying around.
A colorful illustration of a park with trees, a playground, and a seating area with chairs and tables. Two women are walking, and a bird is perched on a swing structure. A bright yellow sun and a small drawing of a sun are in the sky.
A person working at a desk with architectural drawings, colored markers in a container, and various papers and documents.
A webpage from Dezeen featuring architecture designs and proposals, including concept diagrams, model images, and collaborative work among architects for homelessness mitigation projects.