THE FUTURE PERFECT COMPANY
The Future Perfect Company supports and promotes creative businesses and has a focus on ageing through its flagship student design project, Designing for the Future.
Founded by former lawyer, Philippa Aldrich in 2009, the company has run the Designing for the Future project for hundreds of UK design students and supported many graduates and start up creative businesses through the DFF Network.
TFPC features in Yours Magazine
I am really pleased to see Yours magazine today engaging its readers in the debate about design for all (and not just because I am quoted with lovely photos of our double handled teapot and mug!). Editor Valerie McConnell recounts her recent trip to her local gym where although pleasantly surprised by her results on the treadmill, she found herself wrestling with a hard to squeeze shampoo bottle. As Valerie says: "Do you wish everyday objects could be designed to be easy to use as well as look good?" I think they should :"Why should age mean life has to be
IHus – an instant granny annex
Need extra space for a carer, a granny annex or simply just a downstairs bathroom or wetroom but can’t face the upheaval of re-configuring your home or building an extension? At Naidex South this year, I came upon a solution – the pre-fabricated iHUS. By chance, Grand Designs on Channel 4 last night was all about pre-fabs. Kevin McCloud went to visit Alan Dawson who had built much of his house in his workshop before transporting it to site. The iHus follows similar principles to the Grand Designs pre-fab but is much quicker to build. The whole unit is put together in the factory and
Unique intergenerational home sharing project
With much in the news about the isolation of the elderly, Dean Raine of Homeshare Eden describes a unique and fascinating intergenerational project getting underway in Cumbria Homeshare is a new scheme for Eden, Cumbria. It is operated by Age UK Carlisle and Eden, receiving funding from The Housing Action Charity (HACT). The scheme is part of HACT’s Age2Age initiative which supports intergenerational projects all over England. The concept of Homeshare is simple; older and younger people sharing a home. The idea is that an older person gives a room in their home to a younger person in exchange
“We are Enabled by Design” tackles inclusive design
What happens when you get a lot of passionate, creative people in one place? They start to re-design the world. This is what happened at an event organised by Enabled by Design last week at the London Design Museum. Enabled by Design set up by Denise Stephens in 2008 aims to challenge the one-size-fits-all approach to assistive equipment through the use of clever modern design. This event, which was a first for Enabled by Design, brought together service users, designers, technologists, health and social care professionals, third sector organisations and charities to help reframe the ageing/disability debate so, said Denise " rather than focusing
What does a fruit bowl mean to you?
In the new year The Future Perfect Company will be changing. Gone will be the shop and instead the emphasis will shift to “Designing for the Future”. And here’s why. When I opened the shop 6 years ago, it was an attempt to focus on the ageing market. I was in my late 40s and after a legal career in the City was wanting another challenge. I didn’t have far to look. Around me my family and friends’ lives were changing in ways we had not expected. Whilst we had anticipated our older family members’ deaths, many of us
Never mind the granny annex – how about an annex for the children?
According to The Times this week, families who build flats for their grandparents could get tax breaks of up to £20,000 under proposals being considered by a centre-right think-tank closely linked to David Cameron. Iain Duncan Smith, who is lined up to head a new Department for Children and Social Justice under a Conservative Government, is about to announce an inquiry into caring for the growing elderly population. One proposal being examined is for families who build annexes on to their homes for their grandparents to be exempt from capital gains tax when the house is sold. Duncan