Beyond making nice buildings, what can architects do for public housing?

The notion of public housing is changing in today’s social and economic context.

With spiraling rents and property values, many cities, including Toronto, find themselves in housing emergencies for which public sector subsidies are needed to house not only the most vulnerable and disadvantaged groups, but also young professionals, essential workers, and new immigrants—all of whom are integral parts of a healthy economy. Public housing is now an essential infrastructure required to sustain the continued growth of Canadian cities.

The public housing shortage is a multi-faceted problem with no silver bullet solution. It cannot be simplified as a supply and demand issue: the decline of many large post-war housing projects in Canada has shown that increasing the quantity of housing without carefully considering its impact on local communities and urban contexts is not a sustainable solution. Nor can we simply hope that the issue will be solved by regulating the market and curbing speculation: Canada’s population is growing at a record-setting pace of 2.7 per cent, compared to 0.38 per cent in the US and 0.17 per cent in Europe.

As a winner of the Canada Council for the Arts’ Prix de Rome for Emerging Practitioners, I recently undertook research to study how European countries including the UK, the Netherlands, and Spain are taking a leadership role in exploring sustainable development models for public housing projects. Recognizing the stigma associated with public housing and the general misperception that these are charity projects that consume social welfare, these countries have advanced new models that clearly demonstrate what public housing projects can contribute to the social and economic development of cities. Facing shared challenges such as a lack of government funding, unstructured maintenance systems, lengthy payback periods, and urban segregation, these projects explore collaborative approaches between the public and private sectors, and higher degrees of engagement with community and resident groups.

What can architects contribute to this discourse, and how does our role differ compared to the way we operate with private-sector residential developments? This analysis examines three projects that innovate, respectively, in the areas of project funding models, long-term value optimization, and sustainable construction techniques. In each case, considered architectural and urban design is key to the projects’ success. These examples demonstrate the impact of design in finding an economically, socially, and environmentally sustainable path forward.

 

1. Assisting and Creating Viability Through Design

Coville Estate, London, UK _ Karakusevic Carson Architects

When the London Borough of Hackney started its ambitious regeneration plan for the 925 dwelling Coville Estate in 2010, their biggest obstacle was a lack of funding.

As a pioneer in public sector-led regeneration, Hackney Council worked with Karakusevic Carson Architects on all three of their major projects over the next decade to establish a dynamic design environment around social and council housing. The early involvement of architects and urban designers was pivotal to the establishment and success of the program which enabled Hackney Council to transform into a leading ‘social’ developer.

Part of the financial context for this work was the UK’s Coalition Government implementation of a self-financing model for council housing known as ‘Housing Revenue Account’ (HRA). In this model, local authorities were allowed to keep their rental and service charge incomes and could borrow money—but had limited access to direct funding from the central government. Recognizing the project’s challenging financial position, the architects designed a seven-part masterplan to be delivered over a 20-year period.

Active community engagements were carried out throughout the development process, and two key pieces of feedback from existing residents became the principal guidelines for the new masterplan. First, the existing residents who were to be rehoused in the new development made it clear that they did not wish to live in high-rise buildings. Second, they felt that the new community should be better integrated with its surrounding context to avoid social segregation. These guidelines both informed the massing and density of the new masterplan—and helped the architects identify opportunities to integrate market-rate dwellings for cross-subsidy.

The result, which is now partially completed, is a varied townscape with dynamic spatial relationships. In line with the residents’ feedback, the masterplan purposefully maintains a building height of between four and eight storeys, creating a friendly neighborhood of low- and mid-rises. The only exception is at the southwest corner, where two market-rate residential blocks rise to sixteen and twenty storeys, respectively. The two towers have sculpted forms with exquisite brickwork, creating a strong visual marker for the neighborhood, while connecting the estate to the adjacent Shoreditch Park.

To ensure that the towers were carried out as designed, the building design and land parcel were combined as a package in the bidding process, so that the selected private developer was contractually obligated to follow the original design. Additionally, the architects were retained to ensure the quality of construction drawings followed the original design intent.

Through funding generated by the market-rate sales of the two towers, subsequent phases of the project have been able to proceed as planned. The Colville Estate is an example of how architects can help identify funding opportunities and value capture for public clientswhile maintaining a high standard for architectural, social, and environmental qualities.

1. Optimize Long-Term Values of Public Housing Stocks

Knikflats, Rotterdam, The Netherlands _ HvdHA / biq

In the Netherlands, public housing is developed by housing associations. These are non-profit organizations with access to long-term, low-interest loans, whose borrowing capacity is based on portfolio value. In this system, the portfolio’s book value directly correlates to the associations’ capacity to develop new projects and maintain their current stock.

HANS VAN DER HEIJDEN ARCHITECTEN/biq was commissioned in the early 2000s for the renovation of four large post-war housing blocks in Ommoord, Rotterdam. Built in 1968, the district was designed by Bauhaus-trained urban planner Lotte Stam-Beese , as part of a direct response to the severe postwar housing shortage. In addition to their general state of disrepair, the project also suffered from inherent design issues, such as congested circulation routes and inactive communal spaces.

After evaluating the existing conditions, the architects presented renovation strategies with varying degrees of intervention to the housing association, using a book value vs depreciation diagram.

 

As indicated, an asset’s book value depreciates over time after its completion. At around the 30-year mark, an intensive renovation is normally needed to maintain function. The renovation will give a significant increase to the property’s book value. Based on the design strategy and the level of investment, the building’s lifespan and long-term value will be altered to different degrees. The diagram clearly communicated the long-term benefits that a considered renovation strategy could  bring to the housing association’s existing buildings. Through this analysis, the clients and architects were able to arrive at a renovation strategy that provided significant improvement to the residents’ living conditions and optimized the housing association’s portfolio value.

Two of the housing blocks were redeveloped as accommodations for the elderly with the addition of  communal living rooms on their ground floor. Additional units were added to their bases, creating variations to the strict structural grid of the original buildings.

 

Two other blocks were redeveloped following the “customer choice” concept, which offered residents the option to purchase their units. This strategy generates greater socioeconomic diversity among the residents, and a more sustainable neighborhood across the blocks. To activate the communities, the architects recognized that the scale of the buildings needed to be broken down into smaller sections. More circulation cores were introduced, as well as shared loggias, which created close-knit communities within each building block.

The series of renovations was completed with the residents in place, over a 10-year period. It fundamentally transformed the buildings’ organization and performance. Through considered and meaningful alterations, the postwar structures were adapted to a diverse community and contemporary ways of living.

 

• Advance Construction Standards and Sustainable Technologies

Multiple Projects, The Balearic Islands, Spain_IBAVI

The Balearic Social Housing Institute (IBAVI) is a public body attached to the Mobility and Housing Ministry of the Government of the Balearic Islands, Spain. They are a group of professionals from all sectors of construction and development, working with the main objective of promoting public rental housing.

From 2009 to 2017, IBAVI developed a prototype project of 14 social rent units in Formentera with the support of the Balearic Island Government and the European Life+ Program. The aim of this pilot project was to provide the authorities with concrete data to demonstrate that current construction methods can be changed to reduce material and energy consumption, while also improving resident comfort. Data was obtained by documenting the embodied energy and ecological footprint of the construction, as well as monitoring post-occupancy comfort levels and energy consumption.

The pilot project started with a mapping of Balearic Island’s local materials. The 14 housing units were intentionally designed with local resources, including non-reinforced lime concrete with polyethylene fibers for the floor slabs, and dried Posidonia seaweed for insulation. The resulting building reduced construction-related CO₂ emissions by 60 per cent.

In 2019, the managing director of IBAVI, Cris Ballester, saw an opportunity to build on the success of the prototype and further respond to the pressing climate emergency. She believed in the environmental benefits of its new construction methods, but recognized the need for economic viability and efficient delivery to ease the ongoing housing crisis. Cris Ballester made her point clear when working with the technical department of IBAVI: “This is pure environmental added value; now we must be able to go from these 14 homes to a minimum of 1,000 more in four years.”

The speed required for new public housing developments demands an efficient system of project selection, design development, and construction management. To achieve this, IBAVI, with its industry-wide experience and expertise, worked to optimize every step of project development. Comprehensive competition briefs were set up to select the most innovative design solutions that complied with existing and projected future regulations. Design schedules were aggressively compressed, while in-depth collaboration between different parties was set up to assist the fast-track process. Knowledge of working with sustainable local materials was transferred between projects to continually improve the quality of design.

For instance, take the example of how the use of local sandstone has evolved as the new projects have progressed.  A five-unit social housing infill project on Regal Street, completed in 2019, is the first IBAVI building constructed with local sandstone. While beautifully designed, the architect’s limited experience with sandstone construction led to a longer schedule. Due to stone’s limited ability to span horizontally, floor assemblies were completed in timber, a relatively scarce resource in Mallorca.

In a later project on Salvador Espriu, long horizontal spans are achieved by the traditional technique of stone barrel vaults. Robust pillars supporting the stone vaults create light-filled interior spaces with abundant cross-ventilation. Using pillars as main load-bearing elements also led to a reduced thickness of perimeter walls. The spaces between the pillars are designed as resting areas or service spaces, creating degrees of privacy while maintaining flexibility in the main rooms.

In one of the latest projects with Mares sandstone, six dwellings in Santa Eugènia, IBAVI introduced elegant repetition and standardization to further optimize the balance between design quality and construction efficiency. Striking this balance is essential for financial viability, given the extra cost often incurred by low-carbon materials and sustainable construction methods.

 

The has led to a regional growth in manufacturers and trades specializing in locally sourced construction materials, which in turn has made these methods and materials more feasible for a wider range of projects. The success of the set of public projects has also served as a proof-of-concept for private sector developments, which are further incentized by policies encouraging the use of low-carbon construction technologies. The IBAVI projects demonstrated how architects can be catalysts for industry-wide change through persistent design innovations.

Although development models for public housing vary significantly between countries and regions, the primary role of architects remains to design environments that enable residents to live comfortably and stay socially connected. But beyond this fundamental responsibility, the three precedents in this article point to how architects can further contribute to the development of public housing projects:

 

• In urban renewal projects where the public demand for more housing lacks funding, architects and urban designers can be involved in the planning and pre-design phases to communicate with residents and strategically phase projects, while identifying opportunities for densification and cross-subsidy.

• In public housing retrofit projects, instead of applying a standard renovation procedure to buildings in different conditions, allowing architects to develop strategies for various degrees of intervention based on existing conditions and life-span analysis can lead to the optimization of limited assets, and the delivery of greater long-term value.
• Public housing projects can be the catalyst for advancement in construction standards and technologies if professionals are given the agency to oversee region-wide housing developments, incentivize design and technical innovations, and transfer knowledge between projects.

 

The housing crisis is a multi-layered problem that requires systematic solutions. As professionals leading direct responses to this crisis, architects have a holistic understanding of public housing that can make them valuable players in collaborative teams addressing the crisis. The knowledge, experience, and skills of architects can help alleviate financial burdens, optimize long-term returns, and generate industry-wide advancement.

Improving existing systems requires persistence from everyone involved. By strategically positioning the roles and leveraging the skills of architects, we can become catalysts for meaningful change.

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Ivee Yiyao Wang is a Toronto-based intern architect currently working at LGA Architectural Partners. She is the recipient of the Prix de Rome in Architecture for Emerging Practitioners in 2023. Her research focuses on innovative approaches to public housing design and development. Her professional work includes deep retrofit and renewal projects for Toronto Community Housing and affordable housing development with the Learning Enrichment Foundation.

 

 

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