The Fabric of Home is a speculative textile project exploring how participatory design can support the integration of refugees into rural Scottish communities in 2035. Operating as a weaving workshop, educational programme, and community gathering space, the initiative brings together rural residents and refugees to transform donated scrap fabrics into practical weaves for community housing.

Through this collaborative process, The Fabric of Home demonstrates how design can move beyond an object-centred approach to become a tool for strengthening social bonds, building shared identity, and enhancing well-being through meditative making practices. For refugees, these workshops offer more than technical skills they build confidence, open pathways to employment, and foster a sense of ownership in their new environment. For local communities, they offer a meaningful opportunity to engage with newcomers, fostering empathy and dismantling social barriers. Rather than treating integration as a passive or top-down process, The Fabric of Home invites active contribution from all participants. It transforms inclusion from an abstract policy into a lived, shared experience, proving that resilient communities are built through collective creativity, mutual respect, and a sense of belonging.

Design for Refugees

In an era of instant information, the demand for transparency and accountability has never been higher. Exploitation, whether of people or resources, is increasingly visible, yet many governments continue to respond to displacement by hardening borders and ignoring human rights. The public perception of refugees has become polarised, shaped more by fear than fact. The world does not need another ‘refugee shelter’. Refugees are not a separate species; they do not require special technology or bespoke solutions. The real issue is not where they live, but how they are received. It is time to stop seeing them as burdens and start recognising them as individuals with skills, ambitions, and the desire to contribute. Two things are crucial to integration: learning the language and finding work. Yet, restrictive policies often trap refugees in enforced idleness. Given the opportunity, they build, enrich, and revitalise the communities around them. The question is not whether they are ready to contribute, it is whether we are willing to let them.

Participatory Design as a Tool for Integration

Participatory design supports social integration by encouraging active collaboration towards shared goals. The Fabric of Home offers refugees a way to engage with Scotland’s socio-cultural landscape, fostering a sense of belonging through hands-on making, self-expression, and skill development. By transforming scrap fabrics into practical weaves for community housing, the initiative creates a platform for connection between refugees and local residents. This process, set within a speculative 2035 context, centres creative cooperation as a tool for resilience and regeneration. Participatory design reframes integration as a collective act, turning abstract ideals into tangible outcomes. It shows that inclusive communities are created not through policy alone, but through lived experiences of making, sharing, and mutual recognition.

Shaping a New Community Identity

Through the act of weaving, participants design practical items for their homes that respond to their new environments. Crafters are encouraged to incorporate personal artefacts and traditional weaving styles from their cultural heritage, blending past and present in each piece. Speculative outcomes include furniture, curtains, and blinds, each woven with intention, memory, and aspiration. In this shared act of making, a new community identity begins to take shape, one threaded through with the textures, patterns, and colours of many lives coming together.