42_FKL ARCHITECTS | Social housing, Ballymun

NAME

Designer or design team: FKL Architects
The project has been submitted by: Michelle Fagan, Paul Kelly, Gary Lysaght

Plot area: 7.883 mq
Gross Area: 3.746 mq

Of which
Residential: 100%
Public/communal areas: 0
Facilities for the public: 0
Business/trade: 0
Offices: 0
Number of residential units: 36

Typology of users: families, old-aged people
Total building costs: 4.500.000,00 €
Building Cost = Total Building Cost / Gross Area: 1.201 €/mq
Floor area ratio = Gross Area / Plot Area: 0,47
Work started on date: July 5th, 2010
Work completion date: December 7th, 2012

OWNERSHIP
Promoter: Ballymun Regeneration Ltd
Allotment rule:  Residents from local area, tenants of the City Council
Reduction cost percentage compared to the market value:
rent: 50%

LOCATION
Country: Ireland
City/town: Dublin
Address: Shangan Avenue, Ballymun

Description of the project:

Urban

Analysis of this particular site suggested a continuation of a linear organisation along the new street edge, extending the strategy established by previous schemes along the perimeter of the regeneration area providing protection to the currently exposed existing back gardens. The new building clearly defines the separation between public and private space in line with the aspiration of the Master plan.

Design

The programme required the provision of 36 dwellings ranging from single storey one-bed apartments to three storey family units in compliance with the Department of Environment guidelines. All units are own door access with the majority having private gardens at ground floor level with the apartments having access to balconies and generous roof terraces.

The apartments are clustered at the corners and around the crescent fronting onto the park at the North of the scheme. The concept resolved into a formal proposition that twists and bends in response to various site conditions and brief requirements, to provide a coherent and integrated response which embeds itself into the existing and emerging context.

The linear form twists and turns depending on the depth of the site and the proximity of the proposed building to existing houses. The majority of units are two and a half storeys high changing to a full three at corners. The roof accommodates this change in scale and ensures all third floor windows look to the street respecting the privacy of existing back gardens.

The rear elevation is allowed to rise up when distant from the existing neighbours, falling to single storey when the form is less than 20 metres to the rear of an existing house. The reading of the form as a single entity is emphasised by the use of a singular colour and materiality, brick walls and concrete roof tiles.

Environmental

All of the dwellings are designed and tested to achieve an energy rating of A3 and comply with the masterplan requirements. Thermographic surveys were carried out on the dwellings to ensure that cold bridges are not present.

Ventilation

A low energy ventilation system is incorporated into all the housin, fresh air is drawn through humidity controlled window vents in all habitable rooms and is extracted from bathrooms and WCs

Solar water heating

The water heated by the solar panels runs through a secondary coil in the hot water cylinder. Primary heating is provided by a high efficiency gas condensing boiler with advanced controls.

Economic

The new town is being made economically sustainable through the construction of a traditional style Main Street, with its retail and commercial services, the development of neighbourhood centres with a range of local services.

Social

The creation of Ballymun Regeneration Limited initiated the beginning of the demolition of the Ballymun flats and the emergence of a “new town” of Ballymun, with the residents rehoused in new “state of the art” housing in Ballymun. The new housing is a mixture of public, private, voluntary and co-operative housing. The new development has had a positive effect on lives of the residents of the area by improving the physical environment and improving the standard of each family’s living accommodation.