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Abstract
The paper 'The Opportunities of Flexible Housing' addresses today's need for
buildings that can adapt to change over time. By discussing ideology, participation,
use, technology, and finance as parameters for flexible housing, this paper also
investigates reasons for current non-implementation and obstacles as inherent to the
UK housing market, before concluding with the suggestion that flexible housing is
inherently sustainable.
Introduction1
This is the first of two papers that investigates flexible housing, i.e. housing that is
designed for choice at the design stage, both in terms of social use and construction,
or change over its lifetime. The paper shall look at the 'why' of flexible housing: why
architects, planners and housing providers design, or should design, buildings that can
be, in part or entirely, flexible and provide scope for adaptation, why flexibility is
important.2
By focusing on the British housing market, the paper argues for the socio-demographic
as well as economic need for the adaptability of buildings by establishing that
flexibility is inextricably linked to sustainability and stability in communities. It will
highlight some of the wider issues of housing such as questions around density, the
provision and distribution of facilities within the wider context of an area or
community, space standards, and the transformation of housing into a commodity, as
well as obstacles to the notion of flexible housing.
This paper is based on a research project based at the University of Sheffield entitled The
Past, Present and Future of Flexible Housing, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research
Council.
The category 'flexible' includes the category 'adaptable'. The term 'adaptable' is used only
if specific to a certain condition, whereas generally it is taken as a subset of the category of
flexibility. Flexibility does not refer specifically to notions of mobility and moving, but
includes issues surrounding social opportunities in housing.
Joseph Rowntree Foundation, Lifetime Homes <http://www.jrf.org.uk/housingandcare/lifetimehomes/> [accessed: 28 April 2005]. All housing built after October 1999 has to fulfil
Part M regulations, which cover accessibility, Lifetime Homes features, and built-in
flexibility that make homes easy to adapt as peoples' lives change.
dimensioned spaces whose uses are not predefined, and by the positioning of walls
and service cores so that they can be changed from one scenario to another. Second,
through the notion of determinacy: spaces are designed to have the potential to be
changed through movable walls, foldable furniture or component systems.4
'Technology', on the other hand, deals with issues that are either related to specific
construction methods and techniques ranging from cross wall construction to the
separation between load bearing and non-load bearing elements, or service strategies
for a building, i.e. a system designed to allow ease of maintenance and
exchangeability of redundant elements, which can either be achieved through
maximum bundling of services within one core or a completely decentralised
provision that allows a number of service outlet positions within the same unit.
These two categories, supported by a number of elements ranging from considerations
on a macro, building, unit, and right down to the micro level of internal building
components, provide the objective basis for the analysis of a building's ability to
accommodate change. The extent to which this is possible is determined by the level
of in-built opportunity for adaptability, taken to mean "capable of different social
uses", or flexibility, "capable of different physical arrangements."5
If flexibility or the designing out of inflexibility needs additional up-front investment,
4
These issues and those of technology are explored further in Jeremy Tills paper 'Flexible
Housing : The Means to the End' which is being presented in the workshop 'Physical
Aspects of Design and Regeneration'.
Steven Grok, The Idea of Building : Thought and action in the design and production of
buildings (London, Glasgow, New York, Tokyo, Melbourne, Madras: E & FN Spon, 1992),
p. 15.
Alexander Henz & Hannes Henz, Anpassbare Wohnungen (Zrich: ETH Wohnforum,
1997), p. 4.
For example: 'Das wachsende Haus' - competition, Germany (1932); 'The new house 194X'
- Architectural Forum, USA (1942); 'Homes for today and tomorrow' - government report,
UK (1961); SAR - Founding of a research institute under Habraken, Netherlands (1961);
'Flexibler Wohnungsgrundri' - competition, Germany (1971); 'Wohnen Morgen' competition, Austria (1971); 'Fleksible boliger - competition, Denmark (1986, 1990/91);
'Accommodating Change' - competition, UK (2002).
Aldo van Eyck (1962) quoted in Adrian Forty, Words and buildings : a vocabulary of
modern architecture (London: Thames & Hudson, 2000), p. 142.
10
11
Maureen Taylor, 'User needs or exploiter needs', AD, 11 (1973), 728-32 (p. 728).
12
James Stirling (1984) quoted in Forty, p. 143. The quote refers to his design for the
Stuttgarter Staatsgalerie, but is symptomatic for a widespread dismay with a discussion that
became very much focused on concepts too abstract and not capable of solving the
dilemma between occupants' wish for flexibility in certain areas and that of fixation in
others.
Andrew Rabeneck, David Sheppard & Peter Town, 'Housing Flexibility?' AD, 11 (1973),
698-727 (p. 701).
14
See D. Levitt, 'What type of home? sustainable housing requires buildings to be adaptable',
AXIS -LONDON- ROOM-, 6 (2000), 12-13 (pp. 12-13). Levitt argues that sustainable
housing requires buildings to be adaptable to suit changing needs and wishes, particular of
the occupants.
15
This does not include a large number of buildings, such as Victorian, Georgian or
Edwardian town houses and terraces or early industrial buildings that have proved to be
both adaptable and flexible over time.
16
Ministry of Housing and Local Government, Homes for today & tomorrow (London: Her
Majesty's Stationery Office, 1961), p. 9.
17
CABE & RIBA, Housing Futures 2024 : A Provocative Look at Future Trends in Housing
(London: Building Futures, 2004), pp. 14-15.
18
'Consumer Choice', one of the buzz-words of recent years, stretches from areas such as the
National Health Service to education, but also includes housing.
19
David Blackman, 'Housing : The ever-changing demand and requirements for housing
mean that providing flexible, desirable dwellings is a major challenge for the future',
Amanda Birch & Robert Booth, Building Futures : A Building Design Supplement for CABE
and RIBA (London: Tony Arnold, 2003), 22-26 (p. 23).
20
Kate Barker, Review of Housing Supply. Delivering Stability: Securing our Future Housing
Needs (London: Her Majestys Stationery Office, 2004), p. 1.
21
Barker, p. 128.
22
Council of Mortgage Lenders, Pensions : Challenges and Choices, Response by the Council
of Mortgage Lenders to the Pensions Commission <http://www.cml.org.uk/servlet/dycon/ztcml/cml/live/en/cml/regandpolicy_responses_2005_0304> [accessed 3 May 2005]
23
This is not to say that the decisions of architects and planners were or are never informed by
economic concerns, but that the economic structure of many volume house builders
provides difficulties in promoting long term approaches. However, in particular amongst
architects, the terminology of flexibility is often used as a 'gimmick' or rhetoric, often
resulting in extremely user unfriendly, technically demanding solutions that have not much
in common with flexibility as promoted within this research.
24
25
Design Council, Competitive Advantage through Design (London: Design Council, March
2002), p. 23.
10
26
27
11
28
29
The Housing Forum, Rethinking Construction : 20 steps to encourage the use of Whole Life
Costing (London: The Housing Forum, 2002), p. 3.
30
31
12
32
N. E. Altas, Oezsoy, A., 'Spatial adaptability and flexibility as parameters of user satisfaction
for quality housing', Building and Environment, 5 (1998), 315-24.
13
33
National Housing Federation, Housing must remain a priority for the next government
(London: National Housing Federation, 2004), 1-4 (p. 1).
34
14
Jeremy Till expands upon the how of flexibility in his paper 'Flexible Housing : The Means
to the End', to be presented in the workshop 'Physical Aspects of Design and Regeneration'.
15
Conclusion
This paper has argued that the adoption of flexible housing addresses beneficially
issues of finance the idea that flexibility is more economic in the long term,
participation the way that flexible housing encourages user involvement in the
design process, sustainability the way that flexible housing is both socially,
environmentally and economically sustainable, technology the way that flexible
housing exploits, or is determined by, advances in construction technology, and use
the way that flexible housing adapts to different usage over time. With an approach
to flexibility as broad as this, the multitude of methods for achieving flexibility is large
and as Jeremy Till's paper will suggest it can be achieved through anything from
"wholesale change down to quite discreet, but potentially extremely useful
alterations."36 None of these issues can be afforded to be overlooked by anybody
neither by architects, housing developers, providers and most of all users and
despite the long list of lost opportunities and present obstacles, much has already been
done to challenge existing conditions and much can be done to heave the issue of
flexibility into the wider public domaine. Some of the obstacles are being discussed
already and in particular the public sector seems to be the pioneering force on issues
such as whole life costing and implementation of sustainability.
When reconsidering flexibility in housing today, we as planners or architects but also
as users have an enormous responsibility as much as a significant opportunity in
addressing but also reassessing the act of dwelling. This should not lead to a
discussion merely about space standards, but about long term visions and their
implementation through discussions with all those involved in the process. Flexibility,
as detailed in Jeremy Till's paper, should not be confused with complicated technical
solutions, which often ignore simpler spatial alternatives, but should be seen as a part
36
Jeremy Till, 'Flexible Housing : The Means to the End', paper to be presented at the ENHR
International Conference Housing in Europe: New Challenges and Innovations in
Tomorrow's Cities, Reykjavik, 29 June - 3 July 2005.
16
REFERENCES
ALTAS, N.E. & ZSOY, A., 'Spatial Adaptability and Flexibility as Parameters of User
Satisfaction for Quality Housing', Building and Environment, 5 (1998), 315-323
ARCHITECTURAL FORUM, 'The new house 194X ...' Architectural Forum, 9 (1942),
65-152
BARKER, K., Review of Housing Supply. Delivering Stability: Securing our Future
Housing Needs (London: Her Majestys Stationery Office, 2004)
BEISI, J., 'Adaptable Housing or Adaptable People?', Architecture et comportement /
Architecture and Behaviour, 11 (1995), 139-62
BLACKMAN, D., 'Building Futures. Housing', Building Futures. A Building Design
Supplement for CABE and RIBA (2003)
BRE, 'Whole Life Costing' <http://www.bre.co.uk/service.jsp?id=48> [accessed 4 May
2005]
CABE, Building for Life Newsletter 01 : Sustainability (London: CABE, 2004)
CABE & RIBA, Housing Futures 2024 : A Provocative Look at Future Trends in
Housing (Building Futures, 2004)
CHRISTIANSEN, J. H., 'Fleksible boliger [Flexible housing]', Arkitekten (Copenhagen),
18 (1988), A484-A90
COUNCIL OF MORTGAGE LENDERS <http://www.cml.org.uk/servlet/dycon/ztcml/
cml/live/en/cml/regandpolicy_response_2005_0304> [accessed 3 May 2005]
DESIGN COUNCIL, Competitive Advantage through Design (London: Design Council,
March 2002)
37
CABE, Building for Life Newsletter 01 : Sustainability (London: Commission for Architecture
and the Built Environment, 2004), p. 2.
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