A New Design Concept: Creating Social Solutions for Old Age

Design played a critical role in researching the needs of Southwark's 25,000 elderly residents as well as in developing the circle concept and selling it to prospective investors and local seniors.

There are several designers in the 15-strong Participle team working alongside social scientists, anthropologists, psychologists, management strategists and economists.

"Designers understand people's motives, aspirations and needs," Cottam said.

"They're also natural lateral thinkers, which is critical in projects like this, and their communication skills help to persuade people to participate.

Design is only ever one tool in the mix, but it brings something very special."

She and her colleagues at Participle are among the pioneers of one of the most dynamic areas of contemporary design.

It's so new that it's still called by different names, including "social design," "service design" and "the new design," but the universal aim is to use designers' skills to tackle the urgent social problems of our time.