Urban Housing – Multigenerational Housing
My proposal for the Urban Housing Project in Dennistoun, Glasgow, is to craft a multigenerational housing scheme. I am driven by my phase 1 research group’s findings where we analysed the site through intersectional lenses. We did this through an alternative approach, creating protagonists to understand the site from multiple perspectives of people who have different abilities and are from different backgrounds. This research inspired me to design expressive, safer, and more useful spaces that the people who live on this site would be proud of. This housing model aligns with the evolving dynamics of modern families, which often extend beyond the tradition of the nuclear unit.
Furthermore, I decided to utilise the multigenerational housing concept in mainly my new builds as I believe this would ensure people would be living in agreement with one another. This also puts less stress on the housing market if the larger family are living together and also means the family can lean on each other for their needs and requirements giving them a happier and healthier life.
It was important to me to re-landscape the site to improve access and circulation for all. Imporving the connection to the existing, yet under-developed park was something I also focused on to foster a greener neighbourhood. I also wanted to retrofit the existing buildings to ensure that the architectural narrative was improved in the site. The retrofit and the new build through my iterative design process became one embodied new desigin, building upon the existing structures and forms, whilst creating a new typology in the area. This is shown modeled in full in the building facing Duke Street at the south of the site. This fully designed model acts as a precedent for the retrofit and new build development to the rest of the site that have been proposed in concpet modeling as seen in the site plan and site axonometric.
In essence, my commitment to a multigenerational housing design for Dennistoun stems from the initial urban strategy, my own critical reflections on the housing climate and the site itself. My aspiration is to address the growing societal need for sustainable, community-oriented living spaces. Multigenerational housing not only promotes resource efficiency but also enhances the social fabric of the community.
