Addressing the Youth Housing Crisis: A Collaborative Design Approach Towards Social Housing and Youth Services

Abstract

This doctorate is a pioneering partnership between Northumbria University and YMCA Newcastle, established to coincide with the charity’s 175th anniversary. YMCA Newcastle set a strategic objective that, by 2030, social housing for vulnerable young people aged 18 to 30 would form a core component of its service provision. Central to this ambition was addressing structural gaps between housing, health and the welfare system. Initiated by the researcher, a pilot scheme utilising vacant housing stock donated by Newcastle City Council, alongside the development of a community youth hub and a supported accommodation facility in Walker, were developed for the charity as they sought to deliver integrated, place-based support that fostered stability, belonging and community. These three built projects are referred to as ‘Portfolios’ within the PhD.
Design-led codesign sessions with young people and YMCA Newcastle staff were undertaken to identify specific housing, care and operational requirements. This approach supported the development of trust with individuals transitioning into accommodation and those supporting them, aligning with the YMCA’s mission to enable people to achieve their full potential. The research adopted a pragmatic, practice-based methodology responsive to the contingencies of live projects, ensuring that findings and processes were actionable, transferable and replicable.
This doctoral research contributed a critical evaluation of the design, procurement and delivery of the three portfolios, demonstrating how design-led codesign, combined with an early understanding of client motivations, can inform effective architectural outcomes. It advanced knowledge by evidencing the suitability of flexible procurement models for complex social contexts and by showing how codesign has the ability to strengthen both the formulation of client briefs and design quality.
The research demonstrated the impact of critical architectural practice as a catalyst for addressing complex social challenges through collaboration and reflective practice. It achieved measurable impact beyond academia, securing nearly £1 million in funding and delivering eight transitional homes and a community youth hub. The work unlocked the adaptive reuse potential of vacant local authority housing and reinforced the importance of robust procurement strategies in constrained contexts. This is evidence of how the architect can act as a facilitator of systemic change, influencing local authorities, charities and national housing bodies with approaches scalable across YMCA federations and other social housing providers nationally.

Date of Award	19 Feb 2026
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Northumbria University
Supervisor	Paul Jones (Supervisor) & Peter Holgate (Supervisor)