Mae Architects has just won the Stirling Prize for the John Morden Centre in Blackheath, a project that has been widely applauded for its reimagining of what architecture for later life can look like. With its characteristically restrained palette and subtle interplay of internal and external spaces, the John Morden Centre has reconfirmed Mae as one of the leading socially engaged practices in the UK.

But Mae’s interest in the later life sector began even earlier, when they were appointed to design Daventry House, a new supported living residential scheme for Westminster City Council in 2012. This recently completed project, delivered for a public sector client, goes to the heart of the wider issue, by signalling a new direction for public sector independent living for the elderly.

…