COMMUNITY HOUSING RESEARCH

COMMUNITY, CREATIVITY & CONVERSATION - UNLOCKING NEW HOUSING IN EUSTON

Between August and November 2025, Old Diorama Arts Centre (ODAC) was commissioned by Camden Council on behalf of the Euston Housing Delivery Group to conduct community research on the principles and priorities of Euston residents for the future of housing in the area.

ODAC collaborated with organisations across the area to reach deep into the community, and delivered an arts-led, person-centred approach to the questions: “What makes a good home?”, “What makes a good neighbourhood?” and “How do we work in partnership to make this a reality?” Fitzrovia Youth in Action also delivered a specific young person-led focus group project around the same questions.

Together, we harnessed the power of creativity to unlock potentially difficult conversations around existing housing and the future of new homes in Euston. Residents of all ages took part, alongside local people with lived experience of homelessness; sharing openly and honestly their challenges and needs for the future of living in Euston - and how to get there.

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WEAVING IDEAS

INTERACTIVE ACTIVITY AT REGENT’S ROOTS FESTIVAL TO FRAME THE RESEARCH METHODS

MAKING/CONVERSATION

14 workshops with community partners, using craft and making to unpack personal experiences and hopes around present and future housing in Euston.

BLUEPRINTS

EUSTON’S FESTIVAL OF COMMUNITY-POWERED HOUSING

Blueprints: A Festival of Community-Powered Housing Ideas unfolded at ODAC over 4 inspirational days at the end of October 2025, and we are so grateful to all who came to share their ideas on how a community-led future in Euston could look! It was a whirlwind of imagination, passion, and connection, all fuelled by a shared urgency for community-powered housing in Euston. The week felt inspiring and energetic, creating a space for everyone's voice to be heard.

We hosted an incredible array of workshops, talks, performances, and artworks as an epic culmination of research on behalf of Camden Council. The Neighbourhood Studio was completely transformed into a colourful, interactive artwork comprising all of the neighbourhood contributions created by residents across our Making/Conversation workshops, which we ran for 10 weeks to discover insights into people’s priorities for the future of our homes and neighbourhood. This research is set to inform the writing of a Euston Housing Compact, a document outlining the principles and priorities of the community when it comes to delivering new homes. ODAC was a part of ensuring that resident voices were meaningfully sought out, listened to, and platformed in this research.

Creative Director Daniel Pitt said it best:

"It's hard to have hard conversations, and it's hard to imagine what's possible while in the middle of the current reality. This project has been, like much of ODAC's work, about creating the right, trusted conditions for people to come together and connect, converse properly, and imagine. We're honoured that hundreds of Euston residents have shared their needs, opinions, and dared to dream with us. Citizen power is growing here. We are your ally.”

ONE ROOF’S BEYOND THE NEGATIVES

ODAC’s programme with people with lived experience of homelessness devised an interactive theatre project to better understand the perspectives of those for whom the housing system has failed.