RIBA EUROPE’s Post

We have launched a new report which aims to address the housing crisis with guidance on converting historic buildings. 🏡 Repurposing empty historic buildings could provide up to 670,000 new homes in England. We work with local authorities, communities and developers to recycle old buildings and find them vital new uses as homes and work places. This new report provides insight into the benefits and challenges of transforming historic buildings. Read more ⬇️

A great summary of what we can achieve when the insights, experience and vision align. It is possible to have affordable rates, good amenities and better housing that benefits communities and planet!

There’s a lot going with changes to the housing and urban development landscape right now and an intense national conversation about infrastructure. There are plenty of problems to solve, but whichever way we cut it, well planned, well designed and well built higher density housing in our cities has got to be a big part of the solution. One important gap we’ve noticed at Greater Wellington Regional Council in this whole discussion on urban form is the need to show - actually to communicate visually with images, diagrams and real life examples - what good higher density housing looks like. So we’ve published a toolkit with WSP in New Zealand to do just this. We know the planning and urban design world can be hard to understand so we hope this will be an entry point for everyday people into the conversation about high quality higher density housing. Big thanks to Catherine Knight PhD for commissioning this and the team at WSP in New Zealand for producing an excellent document. Full report is online here: https://lnkd.in/epdb6HAE. And here’s my write up on it for The Post.

Great article and useful links below from Clr Thomas Nash, sharing recent work by Greater Wellington Regional Council, highlighting the importance of higher density housing for our overall urban form and infrastructure spend.

The U.K. faces a housing crisis with a 4.3 million home deficit and a rapidly growing population. The original Garden Cities by Ebenezer Howard offered bold, innovative solutions that balanced urban growth with the natural environment. Today, we need to revive this concept with entirely new, self-sufficient cities designed for a million people, not just suburban extensions. 🌳🏡 Learn more about New Garden Cities with Gensler's Ian Mulcahey. https://lnkd.in/e7NnPJQ2

Pre-registrations are open for the online launch event of a new report by the Place Alliance: 'How high-quality housing can be delivered in less well-off areas in England' Date: early Feb (more info to follow) This report, produced by Professor Matthew Carmona, Place Alliance is based on a detailed assessment of 20 housing development case studies drawn from across England. It identifies ten best practice routes to success in creating high quality development in areas where the housing market is relatively weak. The study has been supported by Civic Voice, the TCPA and Urban Design Group. Register: https://lnkd.in/e3KgteAf

Why is boosting housing supply so tough? In this episode, Jill Garner, Victorian Government Architect, explains why meeting housing targets isn't as simple as it seems. We discuss the challenges of balancing the need for more homes with good design and explore the obstacles that are holding back development. Don't miss this deep dive into the realities of urban planning and the "Future Homes" initiative in Melbourne! https://lnkd.in/d_8qVDta

To address our housing challenges, we must confront barriers embedded in our regulations. With that in mind, Boston Indicators collaborated with Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies and Utile to produce a new report, Legalizing Mid-Rise Single-Stair Housing in Massachusetts, which we're excited to discuss with a panel of experts at an upcoming report release event on October 10th at 9 AM. The report takes a close look at the building code requirement that residential buildings between three and six stories must include two staircases. By exploring the potential for allowing single-staircase designs, this report examines how we could unlock new possibilities for more affordable, space-efficient housing. Join us: https://bit.ly/3N8DeEh

"Overall, the effect is more housing on lots where it’s needed, but also more robust neighborhoods, both socially and economically." Could stairs be a step towards addressing Boston's housing crisis? Legalizing Mid-Rise Single Stair Housing in Massachusetts, the new report by Boston Indicators, the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard, and Utile highlights how allowing single-staircase designs has the potential to unlock more affordable, space-efficient housing, estimating that we could net upwards of 130,000 new homes with reforms to the current requirement. Learn more about the current building code and proposed reforms in the full report: https://bit.ly/3Npjyfa You can also tune in now for the livestreamed report release event: https://bit.ly/4eR1Ay3

"If you could change one thing to enable better design in housing, what would it be?" The Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies recently surveyed 1,300 professionals involved in every aspect of housing production Nationwide. The top responses to this question; 📜 Overly restrictive zoning ✏ Onerous design guidelines 🏘 Increase in allowed density 🧗♀️ Two means of egress rule 🏛 Efficient municipal and community review process 🏠 Allowing smaller housing https://lnkd.in/eWFYTZWp