Earlier this week we found out that we made it through the first round of The Davidson Prize selection process

Our team is with Trigon Fire Safety, Atelier ANF Adam Nathaniel Furman (Hon FRIBA) and Karen Newell.

The prize an annual competition founded by Alan Davidson before his death 5 years ago, recognises transformative architecture of the home. It exists to celebrate innovative design ideas, to encourage multi-disciplinary collaboration and to promote compelling visual communication.

The 2026 theme is: Changing the Game: Building Play into Housing.
Below is our proposal, which we brought to life with a game of No Snakes, Just Ladders:
Can second stairs do more than just enable safe evacuation? We ask whether they are in fact an underused commons and, if so, how they can be reframed to add value.

As the draft NPPF promotes higher-density housing in sustainable, well-connected locations, we know that invariably this will lead to taller buildings.

Since the Grenfell tragedy and introduction of the Building Safety Act, buildings over 18 metres require two staircases and associated lifts.

In a typical G+12 storey building, the second staircase and evacuation lift occupy approximately 325m² of floorspace or around 1,000m³.

This built volume is essential for safety, yet unused day-to-day. It is treated as a functional necessity: minimised to reduce impact on net areas, buried within floorplans, stripped of natural light. Underthought. That building will be home to over 240 people. Around a quarter will be children, approximately 3% over 65, with the remainder spanning diverse ages, abilities, and lifestyles.

Play / safety / accessibility / inclusivity and stairs appear as conflicting priorities: we reconcile them through our specialist lenses. We embed play in everyday life: social, physical, creative, cognitive, emotional, and sensory. We create playful journeys through transitions, textures and moments of mystery.

In the current viability doldrums, every bit of building must work hard. No Snakes, Just Ladders turns underused safety infrastructure into a shared asset, making the second stair a safe space for connection, curiosity and everyday play for all.