In March 2018 we collaborated with Shelter, the Housing and Homeless charity, on an event called This is Not a Home: an immersive journey into the lives of Britain’s hidden homeless. We built the experience from scratch in an empty office building in Clerkenwell - featuring 360 binaural sound, multi-sensory set design and performance. One by one guests were led through a binaural, multi-sensory guided headphone experience which featured archived audio and visual footage recorded by - or of - people suffering from homelessness and bad housing. The maze-like basement was turned into five spaces highlighting the conditions that Britain’s hidden homeless face, and the resolution found by those who Shelter have helped.
On top of this a networking reception ran throughout, catered by a food waste social enterprise, and guests were encourage to write reflective statements about their experiences which became a growing installation over the night. The aim of the event was to help Shelter attract more future donors to support one of their two major giving clubs - set to raise £1.5m for Shelter’s family support service and legal work by 2020 – or consider supporting Shelter’s wider work.
This Is Not a Home premiered in March 2018, and was remounted in March 2019.