Cruddas Park Tower by Ellen Willis

Cruddas Park Tower by Ellen Willis is a social housing graduation project about bringing community, friendliness and public life back to a neglected site.

The project is useful because it treats renewal as more than visual improvement. It asks how a difficult residential setting can feel more welcoming, social and cared for.

What the project proposes

Ellen is a Part I Architectural Assistant who graduated from Newcastle University with a 2:1 and has worked as a lead designer on a freelance basis. Her Cruddas Park Tower project focuses on social housing and the everyday experience of a place that had become neglected and unfriendly.

The project is also notable for its process. Ellen completed the drawings by hand before using Photoshop to add vitality, atmosphere and dimension. That gives the work a crafted quality that suits the project’s community focus.

Why the hand-drawn approach matters

• It keeps attention on people and atmosphere, not only building form.
• It gives the project a warmer civic character.
• It shows patience and drawing discipline.
• It helps the social housing idea feel lived-in rather than abstract.

Portfolio lesson

For social housing projects, the portfolio should show what changes for residents. Drawings need to explain access, shared space, thresholds, safety, identity and the everyday moments that make a place feel cared for.

Architecture Social view

Stephen’s recruiter view is that social housing work should not be presented as only a formal exercise. The strongest portfolios make the human outcome clear and show how the drawing process supports that judgement.

If this project has made you rethink your own portfolio or next move, browse current architecture jobs or contact Architecture Social for a recruiter’s view.