Hasta La Ideas

Dezeen Wire: a meals-on-wheels service that brings home cooked food to elderly residents is one of three projects that will share £100,000 awarded by the UK government’s Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI) to the winners of a competition that called for innovative ideas to help elderly citizens live more independent lives.

The competition was organised by the Technology Strategy Board and the Design Council and the three winning companies will use the development contracts to continue refining and testing their services with the elderly community.

The Design Council’s Chief Design Officer Mat Hunter said: “These next generation services will help us maintain our quality of life as we age. All three teams show how understanding real, human needs inspires better solutions and we believe that this design-led approach will encourage the wider economy to embrace this emerging business opportunity. We look forward to seeing these compelling concepts brought to life and to market.”

See previous announcements from the Design Council on Dezeen Wire.

Here is some more information from the Design Council:

New projects will develop innovative services to help older adults live independently for longer

Three innovative small companies have each been awarded government contracts worth £100,000 to develop new services that aim to help older adults live independently for longer through adopting better approaches to food and nutrition.

The awards follow the companies’ success in the ‘Independence Matters – Home and Away’ competition for development contracts, a joint programme between the Technology Strategy Board (www.innovateuk.org) and the Design Council (www.designcouncil.org.uk). The contracts, awarded through the Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI), will enable the three companies to work with designers to develop human-centred service solutions that help to ensure the independence of adults in older age, and which are ready to be scaled-up and rolled out to the commercial market.

The companies awarded the funding are:

FutureGov (London): Casserole is a modern twist on the meals on wheels service which will connect food enthusiasts in the community to cook an extra plate or two of home-made food for people in their area who would benefit from it.  Casserole aims to connect communities one good shared meal at a time.”

Sidekick Ventures (London): League of Meals is a tool to digitise older adults’ home recipes, share them with a private network, and enable them and others to organise social meal events to enjoy home-cooking.

VISION Culture CIC (Worcester): Improving Nutrition in Older People will test and develop a service that will improve the knowledge and skills of older people in order to maintain their long-term well-being in a less clinical manner.

Commenting on the contract awards, Jackie Marshall-Cyrus, the Technology Strategy Board’s Lead Specialist for Assisted Living, said: “Much of the current service provision around nutrition encourages older adults to rely on others.

Rather than seeking to maintain their own skills and independence, it takes away the opportunity they have to continue to do what they can for themselves, or to address their changing nutritional needs and tastes.  These three exciting service development projects will offer a way to reverse this, through providing good nutrition and good nutritional advice, enabling older adults to continue to interact with food in the way they wish to, and enhance social interaction.”

Mat Hunter, Design Council’s Chief Design Officer added: “These next-generation services will help us maintain our quality of life as we age.  All three teams show how understanding real, human needs inspires better solutions and we believe that this design-led approach will encourage the wider economy to embrace this emerging business opportunity. We look forward to seeing these compelling concepts brought to life and to market.”

The ‘Independence Matters – Home and Away’ funding competition was launched in February 2011 and followed extensive research by the Design Council to identify key areas in which innovations could make the most difference in helping older people to live independently.  Nutrition and independent living are strongly linked and the ability to continue to prepare and eat food into older age as you always have done is a fundamental part of maintaining your sense of identity, quality of life and independence.  Access to good nutrition not only ensures healthy living (warding off both obesity and malnutrition) but also, as eating is an inherently social activity, it helps to maintain emotional and mental well-being.

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Dezeen Wire: a report commissioned by the Design Council has recommended a more localised approach to supporting design and architecture across England. 

The review examines the legacy of the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE), which merged with the Design Council earlier this year and suggest ways to create a national infrastructure delivering expert design advice where it’s needed and creating stronger links between industry and design.

The following information is from the Design Council:

England needs a networked system of design support, providing local people with access to built environment expertise and advice, according to the Bishop Review, published today.

Commissioned by the Design Council in April 2011, Peter Bishop undertook an extensive consultation, involving more than 450 representations via written submissions and roundtables held across the country. The Review was supported by an expert advisory group of industry leaders and organisations including the RIBA, RTPI, RICS, Landscape Institute, BPF, HBF, Architecture Centre Network and the Prince’s Foundation.

The Bishop Review is an independent report to the Design Council. It examines the legacy of the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE) in the context of the new planning system and economic and political context, and makes recommendations for a new ecosystem of design support in England.

Peter Bishop said: “The wide and thoughtful responses to the consultation on the review demonstrates that good design should be an essential element in the buildings and places we create. Good design though is about more than just the physical appearance of development. It needs to embrace social functionality, environmental performance and be capable of being delivered in a tough economic climate. If we are to leave a lasting legacy for future generations then all the major bodies and institutions need to come together on a shared agenda to build a national infrastructure where good design can flourish at all levels. In this respect the Design Council Cabe has a key strategic role as a facilitator, as a champion and as a principal advisor to Government.”

David Kester Chief Executive of the Design Council said: “At a time of great economic and policy change in the built environment this report provides the Design Council and its partners with a snapshot of the big design issues that we all face. Peter has made meaningful recommendations based on the significant amount of consultation he’s undertaken. Broadly we support the direction Peter has outlined. As you might imagine we have come a long way in formulating our own response to these issues, and I look forward to publicising our plans in more detail in the near future.”

Key issues that the Design Council will pursue that have arisen from the Bishop Review include:

Design Council Cabe must empower others to deliver good design. Rather than continuing with a centralised system of design support and Design Review services, the Design Council Cabe must work with and through its partners across the country to deliver expert advice to Local Authorities, Communities and Developers.

• Design and Sustainable Development are intrinsically linked. Design is vitally important to economic recovery and community development. It is a key way of reconciling perceived tensions between localism, economic growth and environmental sustainability. There is a need for design to be championed, particularly at this transitional time in the planning reforms, and as part of a national design agenda.

 

• Communities are the new clients. While there are a number of organisations who offer support to communities, what is required are new models of engagement, clear advice, and a simple point of access to available support.

 

• Quality well-built homes are critical in delivering economic growth, but they must fit the local community and context. The quantum and quality of available housing is a significant concern. The UK requires more housing but it must be of good quality particularly where the public sector is making an investment either through land or finance. Design Council Cabe should work with the HCA, as well as commercial house-builders, to ensure that what is built is of good quality and embraced by neighbourhoods.

 

• Local Planning Authorities are pivotal, but need support to deliver reform. The reforms of the planning system will have a significant impact on the way plans are made and developments are taken forward. Local planning authorities will need to ensure that their plans are up to date and that local neighbourhoods are actively involved in place-making. All this is coming at a time when resources within many departments are over-stretched.

 

• Design Review must be decentralised and made more accessible to local people. The system of providing Design Review needs to be refreshed to be more responsive to developers and relevant to communities. In part this can be accomplished by the delivery of Design Review closer to the development site. London alone lacks a subnational Design Review panel. This should be rectified, with Design Council Cabe taking responsibility for delivering Design Review in London. In the absence of core funding for Design Review, it should be paid for through planning fees as it can help bring confidence and certainty to developers and local authorities.

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Dezeenwire: the Design Council have launched a competition to design ways of tackling violence and aggression in National Health Service Accident & Emergency wards in the UK.

The entrants will work with A&E staff and patients at three NHS Hospital Trusts to develop and trial their ideas.  The shortlisted entries will be announced on 18 April and the winning designs will be presented in October this year.

All our stories on the Design Council »

Here’s some more information from the Design Council:

NHS joins forces with designers to tackle violence and aggression in A&E departments

Designers are to rethink the design of hospital Accident and Emergency departments in a bid to develop innovative new ways to reduce violence and aggression towards NHS staff, which is estimated to cost at least £69 million a year in staff absence, loss of productivity and additional security.

The year-long project, Reducing violence and aggression in A&E by design is being run by the Design Council, and has been commissioned by the Department of Health. The project will involve designers, architects, healthcare experts, patients and frontline NHS staff working together to develop and trial potential solutions. The Design Council today launched a national search for a design team or teams to work with A&E staff and patients at three NHS Hospital Trusts – Guys and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and Southampton University Hospitals NHS Trust.

The winning design team or teams will develop a variety of innovative solutions to give patients, visitors and staff a better and safer experience in A&E.

The solutions will include:

• Changes to interior design, such as redesigning layout and use of space, or introducing new products and furniture.
• Improvements to information given to patients and their families.
• Redesigned clinical and non-clinical services and systems.

An NHS staff survey from the CQC in 2009 revealed that 11 per cent of staff experienced physical violence from patients or their families in the previous year. Figures from the NHS Security Management Service also show that the number of reported physical assaults against staff is on the rise across the NHS. In 2009/10 there were over 150 physical assaults per day on healthcare staff – a total of 56,718 physical assaults in England. The problem is particularly difficult to handle in the complex, high pressure environment of A&E.

Commenting on the project, Sir David Nicholson, Chief Executive of the NHS said:
“NHS staff save lives every day and are committed to providing the best possible service to patients. It is completely unacceptable for them to be assaulted or work in fear of being physically or verbally abused. There is a substantial financial and human cost to violence against staff and I look forward to seeing the results of this project which will help A&E departments become calmer, safer and more productive environments.
Anything which can help to diffuse difficult situations, demand mutual respect or reduce the pressure on busy staff is a welcome addition towards building a modern NHS, centred around high quality patient care.”

Lord Bichard, Chairman of the Design Council said:
“Design is now recognised by the Department of Health as having the potential to develop new solutions to difficult problems within the National Health Service. This is a great opportunity for designers to really make a difference to staff and patients and, hopefully, save money.”

‘Reducing violence and aggression in A&E by design’ follows the success of similar interventions by the Design Council and the NHS to improve patient privacy and dignity and reduce MRSA and C. difficile.

Professor Matthew Cooke, National Clinical Director for Urgent and Emergency Care at the Department of Health said:
“As an A&E consultant I have witnessed the effect of violence on colleagues. Verbal abuse is a daily occurrence and unfortunately physical violence against staff is not rare. This violence also increases the anxiety of other patients and their families in the emergency department at a time when they need a calm atmosphere to aid their recovery from their illness. Better design can help reduce violence and reduce its adverse effects. I look forward to seeing the results of this project that will not only make work safer for my colleagues but also enable us to provide better care for our patients.”

Teams will be invited to submit a proposal on how they would approach the challenge, with solutions which will offer good value for money, and could significantly reduce the financial and human cost of violence against staff.

Designers have already proved that re-designing aspects of A&E departments can reduce violence and aggression against staff. This brings a variety of benefits including:

• increase of staff morale/satisfaction and confidence;
• reduction of litigation costs and a reduction of security and insurance costs;
• reduction in staff absence;
• increase in productivity and quality of care;
• calmer environment;
• improved ‘patient experience’;
• cultural change among staff and patients which encourages mutual respect;
• improved efficiency.

Whilst these have been specific to the hospitals in which they have been trialled, the innovations emerging from this latest project are intended to be universally applicable, with the ambition of being rolled out across England’s hospitals. The closing date for entries is the 4 April with shortlisted entries to be announced on the 18 April 2011. The winning designs will be showcased in October 2011.

Industrial designer Bill Moggridge, who designed the world’s first laptop computer (above), has won the 2010 Prince Philip Designers Prize.

The annual prize, coordinated by the Design Council and announced last night, honours British designers who have most influenced and shaped daily lives. Top image: GRiD Compass computer, 1982. Above: next-generation GRiD Compass computer, 1984.

Moggridge, who co-founded design agency IDEO in the early 1990s, designed the GRiD Compass computer in 1982, for manufacturer GRiD Systems Corporation. Above: early prototype of the GRiD  Compass computer, shown to potential investors. Below: Bill Moggridge.

Here’s some info from the Design Council:

Creator of world’s first laptop computer wins royal Prize

The man who changed the way many of us live and work by designing the world’s first laptop computer -Bill Moggridge RDI – will be named the winner of the 2010 Prince Philip Designers Prize by HRH The Duke of Edinburgh at a ceremony at the Design Council in London this evening, Tuesday 9th November.

GRID Compass computer, 1982

Bill Moggridge was chosen to receive this year’s Prize from a stellar list of globally recognised nominees including avant-garde fashion designer Dame Vivienne Westwood, creator of the London 2012 Aquatics Centre Zaha Hadid and the creative powerhouse behind Burberry, Christopher Bailey. The Prize is awarded annually to recognise a lifetime contribution to design.

As one of the most pioneering designers of the 20th century, Bill Moggridge has been central to how design makes technology make sense to the people who use it. In the late 1980s, he was a leading force in creating the discipline of interaction design, which has set the terms for how human beings engage with computers. In the early 1990s he co-founded the design agency IDEO, which has arguably become the blueprint for the international, strategic creative agency. Today, he makes a forceful educational contribution as Director of the Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum.

With such an unprecedented line-up of nominees, the judges decided to also award three Special Commendations: to Dame Vivienne Westwood; to graphic designer Neville Brody; and furniture designer John Makepeace.

David Kester, Chief Executive of the Design Council, commented: “The Prince Philip Prize provides a timely reminder that we are a nation of innovative, sometimes maverick thinkers – that’s why the UK continues to be at the forefront of global design. Celebrating those talents is a vital part of inspiring our next generation of world-changing designers, innovators and creatives.”

This year’s nominees include pioneers and provocateurs covering a wide range of disciplines, from architecture to industrial, graphic and fashion design. Between them they provide a snapshot of the creative and commercial strengths of the UK design industry which can be seen on the Design Council’s website at www.designcouncil.org.uk/ppdp.

The Prince Philip Designers Prize, which last year celebrated its 50th anniversary, has been in existence since the early days of the Design Council. It was created by HRH as a response to post-war austerity, and aimed to stimulate and reward elegant solutions to design problems. In its half century, the prestigious award has rewarded the best in design from products and graphics to buildings and feats of engineering, and has put the spotlight on designers for influencing and shaping our daily lives.

Former winners of the Prize include Thomas Heatherwick (2006); the architect Lord Foster of Thamesbank (2004); Habitat founder Sir Terence Conran (2003); Pentagram founder Kenneth Grange (2001) and inventor Sir James Dyson (1997).