Design Museum showcase puts Transforming Homes in the spotlight
28 July 2026
“Better, healthier homes for the future” on show at London’s Design Museum until 20 September 2026.
The Future Observatory: Tools for Transition exhibition at London’s Design Museum showcases the work of the Transforming Homes project, alongside three other research projects from across the UK that are driving change in housing, healthcare, local planning and resource management.
Since its installation in September 2025, the exhibition has received around 30,000 visitors a month, engaging diverse public audiences with our work transforming homes - rather than just retrofitting them - through our flagship partnership with the Design Museum.
“It is very disruptive to go into a home and retrofit it fully; it is very costly too.”
“So, what we’re trying to do is plan and design changes that go beyond energy, working with residents, owners and the supply chain to create better, healthy homes for the future. This helps us look at the wider way that a home is used and makes the transformation process more efficient.”
The Transforming Housing and Homes for Future Generations project aims to redesign housing built by councils between 1920-1940, which account for approximately 1.4 million homes still lived in in the UK today.
The team, made up of researchers from the GW4 universities of Cardiff, Bath, Bristol and Exeter and businesses, local authorities and community groups, has been working to co-design, test, implement and monitor innovative appropriate solutions to improve the quality of existing housing.
Homes in Bristol and Swansea are being transformed using knowledge from residents, monitoring and modelling, supply chain engagement and other relevant research. A programme of outreach activities with local authorities, residents and community groups has informed the design of the demonstration homes, helping to understand what challenges they face and how the transformations can help to overcome these.
We are monitoring the homes to understand what their energy use levels are like before any work, as well as temperatures, humidity and internal conditions, so we can paint a picture of the homes pre-transformation.
“We’ll use that information together with the experiences of local authorities, residents and community groups to know exactly where the issues are. Designs for transformation will be based on this knowledge to ensure homes are improved for residents now and in the future.”
In June 2026, the team also unveiled an illustrated storybook, highlighting the collaborative efforts and innovative thinking behind transforming homes.
Tools for Transition exhibition at Design Museum
Tools for Transition is curated by Future Observatory, the Design Museum’s national research programme for the green transition.
The free exhibition presents four Green Transition Ecosystem research projects from across the UK that demonstrate how design is driving changes that are more than cutting carbon emissions or switching to renewable energy sources, and which include making impactful changes to how we build our homes, care for each other, develop our neighbourhoods and manage local resources.
Launched in September 2025, it will run until 20 September 2026.
Future Observatory is coordinated by the Design Museum in partnership with the Arts and Humanities Research Council.
Second phase of Transforming Homes
The second phase of the Green Transition Ecosystem programme, which began in October 2025 and will run until March 2028, is supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) with additional funding of £3.1m.
The funding extension was announced at the launch of the Tools for Transition exhibition on Friday 12 September 2025.
The Tools for Transition exhibition highlights the remarkable reach and impact of the Green Transition Ecosystem projects, showing how they are connecting researchers, communities, businesses and policymakers to accelerate change. It is an inspiring reminder of the power of collaboration and creativity to turn ambitious ideas into real-world solutions for a more sustainable future
In its second phase, the project will continue to support growth and the UK’s transition to Net Zero through scaling up design interventions and engaging diverse public audiences with the power of design through its partnership with the Design Museum.
