The Housing Agency, Ireland
The report does not specify any authors.
2021
This report by The Housing Agency, Ireland, explores social, affordable, and co-operative housing projects across Europe, focusing on case studies from Switzerland, Austria, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Denmark. It emphasizes the importance of providing adequate, sustainable housing to meet both current and future needs, highlighting that these challenges are not unique to Ireland. The report showcases a variety of housing types, including public projects, mixed tenure developments, and resident-led initiatives, reflecting diverse approaches to tenure integration. It argues that well-designed housing not only meets basic living requirements but also enhances community well-being and individual quality of life. The COVID-19 pandemic has underscored the necessity for adaptable homes that support social interaction and well-being. Ultimately, the report serves as a resource for understanding innovative housing solutions that could inform practices in Ireland.
The security and dignity of a good quality home is one of the most important and liberating qualities in society. The challenge of providing an adequate supply of affordable, sustainable homes to meet present and future needs is not unique to Ireland. This report draws on 44 case studies of recent social, affordable, and co-operative housing projects in Switzerland, Austria, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Denmark, that respond in their own way to this challenge. Housing architecture is a product of the policies and design and building practices and societal and cultural norms that have evolved in a particular place, over time. The context and country within which a development takes place will give rise to specific planning, regulatory (including fire), and other safety requirements. The architecture will not necessarily transfer easily from one place or country to another, but there are lessons to be learnt from looking at the context, challenges and design solutions arrived at within different contexts and in different countries. The report includes public projects led by government or city authorities, mixed tenure private developments, and collective schemes led by residents. Like Ireland, all the selected countries have an established tradition of providing housing that is not purely market oriented to meet a portion of their housing need. However, the delineation of tenure is not always straightforward. Most of the countries chosen, to varying extents, provide a mixture of tenures within individual projects. Recent housing policies have frequently favoured tenure integration. with a portion of the residents receiving rental subsidies within mixed tenure developments. Also, affordable, and co-operative developments often include a mixture of homeowners. and people renting, with and without government subsidies. For this reason, the report, as well as providing examples of housing built specifically for the social housing sector, also includes examples of private sector lead, mixed tenure developments, and other projects that fall outside the traditional understanding of social housing. Architecture, at its best, provides a creative response to the diversity and complexity of modern housing and sustainable living. Although many of the case studies are exemplars of best practice in housing design, it is not necessarily so for all 44 of the case studies included in this report. The aim is to provide, using readily available web-sourced examples, an overview of the range of recent housing typologies that exist in the selected countries, and to highlight, within individual projects, a point, or points of interest, that may be worth considering, within an Irish context. The COVID-19 crisis and the need for people to stay at home and in their local neighbourhood has impacted on most people, including parents caring for young children or elderly relatives and juggling work and family commitments, students and others who temporarily share accommodation who are forced to spend extended periods of time in each-others' company, people, including many older people, who are socially isolated, and those living with physical disabilities and chronic ill health. The crisis has highlighted the need for well-designed, adaptable homes that support individual and community well- being and that are technologically smart. These case studies demonstrate that, as well as providing an individual with a place to live, well designed housing enhances the lives of its residents, contributes to existing communities, supports economic well-being, and helps to protect the environment.