A postgraduate student at De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) was among experts consulted for an ambitious report to anticipate key trends in our homes, offices and public spaces.
Victoria Dawson, who is completing a doctoral thesis with the International Centre for Sport History and Culture (ICSHC), was interviewed for construction specialists Marshalls’ Future Spaces report.
It set out to predict how changing lifestyles, technology and economic conditions might dictate the look, feel, colour and materials used to create those spaces. In doing so it identified 12 key trends expected to shape the future of the construction industry.
One of those was the gender neutralisation of construction – something which Victoria, as a researcher whose work focuses on women and society, was well-placed to advise upon.
Her interview with the report researchers led to them shifting the original view of the section, which had talked about the “feminisation” of the industry. Instead, Victoria pointed out that what was happening was more of a move towards neutral.
She said: “We were talking about women in the construction industry and society, and I heard it referred to as ‘feminisation’. I didn’t feel that was happening. Men have been so dominant in the industry that it is more akin to the pendulum just swinging back to the middle.
I didn’t realise the impact that our discussion had had until he said afterwards they had reframed the section as a result.”
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Victoria, whose doctoral thesis is Women and Rugby League: Gender, Class and Sport in the North of England, 1895-2010, said of her contribution: “I think it shows the relevance of the humanities in wider history.”
Marshalls recruited research experts gyro to source and discuss trends with key experts of different areas. The project, Future Spaces, analysed key areas of the construction industry and involved key experts.
The twelve key trends, which are expected to shape the future of the construction industry and how we live are listed below:
1 The blurring of private and public spaces
2 More people in smaller spaces
3 Demarcating multi-use spaces
4 The new wave of water management
5 Future Concrete
6 The blossoming of biophillic design
7 Urban Greening
8 The rise of the super-landlord
9 The gender neutralisation of construction
10 Placemaking for the people
11 Resilience Building
12 The circular economy
Marshalls would like to thank Victoria and the DMU for the support on developing this project.
Posted on Wednesday 14 September 2016