Edward Dale-Harris
Architect, Regenerative Designer, Builder, Grower
ARB Architect, Edward Dale-Harris believes we must look beyond sustainability and move towards regeneration, we have to change our destructive behaviour and do much better to protect nature as citizens of the earth and stewards of the lands, waters, winds, forests and cities.
We need ‘self-directed learning’ to build self reliance, wellness and confidence. We must learn to share resources fairly to create a healthier planet for all.
Ed realises the importance of regenerative design, using and observing the true patterns of nature as our teacher, and valuing a collective and collaborative decision-making process for a grounded and successful project.
Ed qualified as an Architect in 2017 and has gained many awards for his design, commitment, vision, compassion, charity work, environmental and peace building projects.
In 2014 Ed founded SAWA with Enock Ruziga in Rwanda whilst working together on the 'a house for a victim' project. In 2015 Ed received the ‘RIBA North West London Society Award’ at the CASS Design School for this project, nominated as the best live and community engaged project. Ed spent eight weeks on site building a compressed earth block (CEB) house with recently-released prisoners and some of the families of their victims. The project was instigated by Ed and the Ntarama House Building Cooperative, to facilitate development and peace-building in post genocide Rwanda. The cooperative was set up by REACH, a local reconciliation focused charity, to help reintegrate perpetrators back into their community, by enabling them to build homes for victims of the genocide.
This profound experience and research propelled the work of SAWA into the world of socially, environmental and ethical architecture. Ed has grown SAWA, into a collective of freelance professionals and pro-bono network of supporters. The structure is flat it has no hierarchy, each project is discussed openly and relationships and roles are defined on a project basis which meet the specific needs and constraints of each project. Ed has collaborated with a range of community groups, individuals, charities, private businesses and professionals to deliver the best holistic well rounded result, fair to the environment and all.
In 2016 Ed received the ‘RIBAJ Rising Star 2016 Cohort Award’ for We Yone School in the Ebola-affected region of Freetown, Sierra Leone. Enabling 180 of the most vulnerable children in the community to attend primary school and provide a community space for adult learning. WYCF, the client, which nominated him for the RIABJ award, says: ‘Ed demonstrated a commitment to the charity’s mission and vision that made it very easy to entrust him with a great deal of responsibility. Ed would deliver design iterations while involving other experts to improve overall robustness ... he conducted workshops with men, women and children and the community’s vision became firmly embedded in the design.'
In 2019 Ed received ‘The Agri Tech Centre AJ100 Best Collaboration of the year Award’ with Squire and Partners, with the judges describing it as ‘an exceptional example of architectural practices doing charitable work in the developing world’.
Ed has spent a large amount of time volunteering his skills in Rwanda and Mozambique, while seeing festivals as an opportunity to be socially active and experimental in the UK. Delivering projects in challenging environments: post '14 Ebola Sierra Leone, post genocide '94 Rwanda and '79 Cambodia and post '15 earthquake Nepal. Working closing with international and grassroots organisations to deliver appropriate and considered results.
Since 2022 Ed has been living and working from a Tiny House of his own. It has been towed from farm to farm, project to project, displaying the joys of regenerative living wherever it goes. His Tiny House allowed him to live in close proximity to his projects and take a very hands on approach. In March 2024 Ed moved to Builth Wells, Powys, Wales were he is converting a cottage and barn into a homestead and regenerative showcase!
