Why did we call our recent LFA event 'Infill-trate'?

When working on infill sites we are knowingly “infiltrating” existing communities. Without genuinely embedding ourselves and getting to know residents, we, as architects, simply cannot make assumptions about a community’s priorities or what constitutes a legitimate concern.

Last month we took the opportunity to host a London Festival of Architecture event alongside our friends at Haworth Tompkins. The theme for this year’s festival was ‘Voices’, so this seemed the right opportunity to share our respective emerging work for London Borough of Hackney on infill social-housing schemes.

Unlike your typical architecture talking heads event, we invited members of the communities we have both engaged with to speak directly about their experiences. They described their agency in the process and how they felt able to make meaningful change.

Kyle Buchanan from Archio and Chris Fellner and Charlotte Madgwick from Haworth Tompkins demonstrated how the schemes at the Morris Blitz and the Orwell and Welshpool sites evolved and changed to respond to deep resident engagement.

A particularly special thank you to our guest speakers:

- Councillor Dr (h.c) Susan Jumoke Fajana-Thomas OBE, DCL, FRSA, who spoke so eloquently about the challenge of representing diverse perspectives within a community.

- Jake Arnfield, from London Borough of Hackney spoke with refreshing candour about the difficult decisions authorities face on tight infill sites, which are highly scrutinised yet offer valuable opportunities for new homes within existing communities.

- Humu Yahaya, a member of the youth advisory group, whose input has made a dramatic impact on the final outcomes of our scheme.

- Tara Darby, who, as both a photographer and a mother whose child uses the football pitch at the Welshpool site, offered valuable insights into how the residents were genuinely listened to throughout the process and how their concerns about this vital community space were addressed. Her photos of users of the football pitch made were a beautiful backdrop to the event.

- Frances Williams for chairing and setting the context of homelessness and housing waiting lists in the borough.

The evening demonstrated we need to navigate the myriads of different needs on a site while delivering sensitive, people-centred housing. At its core, this work comes down to the skill of being a good listener – and translating what we hear into thoughtful architectural responses.

We hope this is just the first of many events where we get to hear directly from everyone involved in our projects – not just the architects, but the people who bring them to life.

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