2023 LGBT+ History Month Panel

This Is How We Live Our Lives Out

In February 2023, Architecture LGBT+ in collaboration with Foster + Partners, organised a thought-provoking panel discussion on the topic of "inclusive design." With approximately 145,000 older LGBT+ individuals residing in London, we learned there is a growing need for housing, support, and care tailored to the LGBT+ community.

The panel, expertly moderated by Andrew Tuck, Editor in Chief at Monocle, featured Michael Jones, an Architect at Foster + Partners, as well as representatives from Tonic, a community-led nonprofit organisation that provides the UK's first LGBT+ retirement housing. Additionally, the panel included two residents from Tonic@Bankhouse, an LGBT+ retirement community. This vibrant community is situated within The Corniche, a mixed-use development designed by Foster + Partners and located in Vauxhall, Lambeth.

Panel

  • Anna Kear (she/they), CEO at Tonic

  • Sherine Tolu Balogun (she/her), Community Manager at Tonic

  • Raga D’silva, Resident

  • Steve Bugsby, Resident

  • Michael Jones, Architect, Foster + Partners

Moderator

Andrew Tuck Editor in Chief at Monocle

About Tonic

“This is how we live our lives out”

Tonic is a community-led not for profit organisation. They are focused on creating vibrant and inclusive urban LGBT+ affirming retirement communities where people can share common experiences, find mutual support and enjoy their later life. Tonic was established in 2014 to address the issues of loneliness and isolation of older LGBT+ people and the need for specific housing and support provision as there was none in the UK before 2021.

About Architecture LGBT+

Architecture LGBT+ is a not-for-profit grassroots organisation. We aim to provide a safe, inclusive & prejudice free environment for LGBT+ Architects and those working and studying within the profession through networking events, learning, mentoring and role models.

Since its inception in 2016, Architecture LGBT+ has run a wide platform of events such as seminars, networking events, and panel discussions, amongst others, and collaborated with a variety of speakers, writers, activists, agitators, and performers.

About Foster + Partners

Foster + Partners is a global studio for sustainable architecture, urbanism, engineering and design, founded by Norman Foster in 1967. With offices across the world, the practice works as a single entity that is both ethnically and culturally diverse, with people central to all our endeavours.