A free exhibition examining improvements in social housing design in the past 30 years is being launched by East Thames. Called Homework: Design in Social Housing 1979-2009, it uses photography, multimedia and 3D modelling to look at the huge changes that have taken place in social housing since 1979. The exhibition starts on Monday 29th June and is in East Gallery at the head office of East Thames, West Ham Lane, Stratford.

Celebrating the 30th anniversary of East Thames, the exhibition looks at the history of social housing, and how increasingly modern homes are designed specifically to create vibrant communities and meet new greener objectives. Modern developers look at ways in which housing can help build a sense of community, discourage anti-social behaviour, support residents to use public transport, keep running costs affordable, and much more.

The exhibition also looks at the East Thames building, opened in 2008, and the way it has been designed to minimise environmental impact and fit in with the existing site on West Ham Lane in Stratford. The exhibition features the original architect’s model for the building.

Francesca Okosi-Arimah, Director of Support Operations at East Thames, said: “This is a great opportunity for us to see how far social housing has come in a relatively short time. We are proud to be at the forefront of designing homes that we believe will stand the test of time because they meet the needs of residents and the local community.”

Homework is the latest in a series of shows at East Gallery, which is part of the community space at East Thames’ headquarters. East Thames set up East Gallery as an open and attractive exhibition to showcase local artists and to inspire the local community.

The exhibition is free and open to the public from 29 June 2009, Monday to Friday, 8.30am-6pm and Saturday, 9am to 2pm. It runs until 18 October 2009 and can be seen at East Thames Head Office, 29-35 West Ham Lane, Stratford, E15 4PH.