Elderly people living in two story terraced homes will be given a chance to convert the ground floor to live in, and to rent the upstairs.
Architects Dermot Bannon and Ciaran Ferrie have won the the Homes for Smart Ageing Universal Design Challenge, with the Abhaile Project, receiving €50,000 to develop their concept.
The model supports older homeowners to reconfigure their family-sized homes by creating an independent living area suitable for the older homeowner, eliminating the need to use the stairs; and creating an affordable one‐bedroomed rental accommodation upstairs.
Whilst the scheme does not specify whether the focus will be for Dublin only, the aim is to tackle overcrowding in high density cities.
Using a Universal Design approach, the Abhaile Project promotes an efficient way to use existing housing stock by carving much needed new one‐bedroomed rental capacity in mature urban areas, allowing the elderly homeowners to live securely and independently downstairs, whilst promoting interaction with the person living upstairs, thereby reducing isolation.
Astrid Madsen is the editor of the SelfBuild magazine. She previously held the same role in an Irish trade publication, before that she worked at the National Standards Authority of Ireland. She graduated with a BA in Urban Studies from Columbia University in New York and holds an MBA from the Instituto de Estudios Bursatiles in Madrid. France of origin, she now lives in Portarlington, County Laois, where she's taken on the task of renovating a listed building! Email astrid.madsen@selfbuild.ie
