9. Kate Macintosh

Farrell Centre

Kate Macintosh is an architect renowned for her ground-breaking social housing projects and latter-day campaigning and activism. She studied architecture at Edinburgh College of Art (now Heriot-Watt University), graduating in 1961. After time working in Poland, Sweden, Denmark and Finland, and then with Denys Lasdun on the National Theatre project in London, she worked for the Architects Department of the London Borough of Southwark (1965-68) where at the age of 28 she won the internal competition to design what became Dawsons Heights, described by The Observer in 2015 as ‘one of the most remarkable housing developments in the country’. In 1968 she moved to Lambeth Architects Department, designing sheltered housing for the elderly at 269 Leigham Court Road, since renamed Macintosh Court and listed at Grade 2 in 2015. Leaving Lambeth in 1972, she went on to work at Arup Associates, Ahrends Burton and Koralek, East Sussex County Architects and Hampshire County Architects before setting up Finch Macintosh Architects in 1995 with her life partner George Finch. Together they designed the Weston Adventure Playground, Southampton for a playground charity, which won a RIBA Award 2005. Today, Macintosh is heavily involved in campaigning for social housing and its vital role in creating humane and liveable cities. Part of the series 20x20 – a podcast where we ask leading architects, urbanists and thinkers 20 questions over 20 minutes, exploring everything from their ideas and interests to the present and future of architecture and cities. Hosted by Owen Hopkins.