Are We Measuring the Right Things—or Just What’s Easy to Count?
"We need to build places people actually want to be in. That’s the real resilience test."
– Adam Hinds, LifeProven
In real estate, there’s no shortage of data, models, frameworks, and buzzwords, but with every new spreadsheet, have we started mistaking what’s measurable for what matters?
This month, we heard from two guests who challenged us to look deeper.
Rachel Coleman, Head of Research at Turner & Townsend alinea, makes sense of an increasingly fragmented, cost-constrained construction industry. Adam Hinds, Co-Founder of LifeProven, asks the kind of uncomfortable ESG questions that don’t make it into board packs—but should.
Their work meets at a powerful intersection: how do we design and deliver places that work for people, not just performance metrics?
At Grow Places, we believe that the future of development won’t be shaped by who has the best model—it will be shaped by those brave enough to ask better questions.
Rachel Coleman: Why "Construction Crisis" Might Be a Distraction
"Very little seems to change in construction—and yet everything changes."
Rachel’s insight is crisp, hard-earned, and deeply pragmatic. While headlines declare crisis, she sees evidence of innovation—especially since COVID, where productivity has actually improved across the supply chain, but we’re still not talking about it properly.
So what’s really slowing us down?
Over-specification: We’re still chasing “more” instead of “better”.
Disconnection between teams: Projects suffer when cost, design and delivery work in isolation.
Lack of shared learning: Every project starts from scratch—knowledge isn’t carried forward.
Her reminder is clear: basic collaboration outperforms complicated process.
But Rachel also flags two blind spots that keep holding the sector back:
MMC Isn’t a Silver Bullet
We love to talk about modern methods of construction as if they’ll solve everything. But Rachel is blunt: MMC works brilliantly in the right contexts—but it’s no universal fix. If you’re designing a repeatable building type (e.g. modular healthcare or student housing), the speed and cost savings can be significant. But if your project requires flexibility, iteration or late-stage design decisions, MMC can become a constraint—not a shortcut.
“We need to stop saying MMC like it’s one thing. It’s many things—and not all of them fit every brief.”
Better Data Is Useless Without Better Culture
Real estate is flooded with data—but how we use it is often stuck in the past. Rachel argues that true innovation requires more than dashboards; it demands a new culture of collaboration around information. One source of truth. Shared terminology. The humility to learn across disciplines.
“We need proper data specialists—but we also need to ask better questions of the data we already have.” .
Adam Hinds: Designing for Wellbeing Isn’t a Luxury—It’s the Model
"If you’re ignoring social outcomes, your project is already underperforming."
When Adam co-founded LifeProven, it was in response to something he saw again and again in traditional development: ESG was treated as a badge, not a strategy. The real-world experience of residents—how they felt, connected, healed, or struggled—was almost always missing from the business case.
So he built a framework to fix that.
Data with Soul
In partnership with King’s College London, LifeProven developed a research-based model to measure the actual wellbeing outcomes of housing. Not just air quality or daylight—but trust, belonging, security, and community connection.
And their research shows something powerful:
People living in socially connected neighbourhoods report higher wellbeing—even if the physical spec is modest.
Small changes in building layout, access, or management can dramatically improve outcomes.
These insights can feed back into design and operations—from planning to post-occupancy.
“We already have the data. The challenge is choosing to use it.”
The Layers of Real Estate
One of Adam’s most useful frameworks is his concept of “layers of involvement” in a project:
2 years: contractors and designers
10 years: developers and investors
60+ years: residents, families, communities
Each group has a different definition of “value”, and if we optimise only for the short-term, we fail the long-term.
“The irony is that the longest-term stakeholders—the people who live there—are often the last to be consulted.”
He’s not anti-capital. He’s pro-alignment. His work shows that when social impact and financial return are treated as allies—not trade-offs—everyone benefits.
Grow Places Reflections: It’s Time to Move Beyond the Tickbox
This month’s conversations sharpened something for us.
We’re spending more time than ever analysing viability, sustainability, risk, compliance, but when it comes to understanding the actual lives that move through our buildings—we’re still underinvesting.
We’ve made “value engineering” normal. What if we normalised purpose engineering?
We’ve built layers of reporting. What if we also built layers of trust?
Rachel and Adam show us that we don’t need new frameworks—we need better culture, and culture begins with what we choose to prioritise.
June Takeaways
Ask why—not just how much
If the cost plan ignores social outcomes, the value case is incomplete.
MMC isn’t one-size-fits-all
Choose it for the right brief—not just for the branding.
Get to one source of truth
Data is only useful if it’s trusted—and shared.
Redefine affordability
It’s not just rent. It’s access to jobs, nature, services and support.
Design for long-term belonging
It’s not the spec that matters most—it’s how the place feels, connects, and supports people.
Align all layers of involvement
From funders to residents, the most successful places create shared value.
A Note to the Industry
Let’s stop trying to prove our impact—and start improving it.
It is not just about building faster or cheaper, it’s about building smarter, fairer, and with more intention.
We don’t believe in perfect solutions, but we do believe in progress.
Let’s make sure that progress is being measured by how people feel—not just how buildings perform.