Homes for the future

Even bringing these strands together may result in a confusing knot that fails to address critical issues outside the building itself – like transport, waste disposal, or the effects of the building on the existing infrastructure.

Social issues must come into the equation too. Decision makers need to work out how to promote community life, with its knock-on effects on helping to prevent crime and providing support for disadvantaged groups. They need to ensure all residents – and particularly people who are old or disabled – have access to transport and other facilities. And they need to ensure that homes are affordable.

A home is more than just a place to sleep. For many people it is their main living environment – where they spend most of their free time and escape from the stresses of the modern world. Some people choose to work from home, perhaps using new communications technology in place of the car to transport their ideas to colleagues elsewhere.

Combining dwelling place with workplace brings advantages not only in terms of transport, but may also offer a more efficient use of space. It must be more efficient to heat or cool a single area for work and rest than to temper the air in two different locations.

Such objectives are typified by the Hockerton housing scheme1,2. The five 'lifestyle' homes in this projectare now complete and lived in. The Hockerton development meets part of residents' needs for work at or near their homes. They are aiming to grow all their own food on the site, and are organising themselves in the form of a co-operative which gives them responsibilities to work either on the organic gardens, the aquaculture pond (which will provide fish), or the reed bed system.

The vogue concept of 'tele-cottages' may help bring jobs to the countryside, and so restore moribund communities. Agricultural decline and the continued rise of the industrial economy pulled people away from rural areas into cities through the first half of the century.

More recently, train and car travel have given some people the chance to yo-yo back and forth between jobs in the city and homes in the countryside. This has brought some people back into rural communities, but without local employment, and with the high environmental and psychological costs of long-distance commuting.

In towns too, new telecommunications may help to restore balance: sewing together urban communities that have been torn apart by roads and traffic, or providing ongoing contact for people forced to leave their industrial communities in the wake of corporate 'downsizing'.

Computer links and IT controls can help people who are elderly or disabled to lead independent lives (see box stories, right). Steve Bonner, who is coordinating one such project in Edinburgh, says that technology not only improves people's quality of life, but can also save money. "It offers cost savings by cutting use of long-term care. Smart homes are [especially] good for councils with houses in far-flung places like the Western Isles." Naturally, cost is an important issue too. Affordable homes and warmth, are primary concerns in social housing schemes. However, smarter housing is not always more expensive. New technology may actually reduce building costs, at the same time as cutting running costs.

Risks of over-sophistication

Some designers are sceptical of what they view as 'gadgets'. The technology itself consumes energy and often has large environmental impacts during manufacture. It may not be robust enough to work in a domestic environment where children and pets can chew components, and even heads of the household may abuse the equipment.

Bonner himself warns of over-sophistication: "It is important that smart houses are like any other home. Technology is hidden or blended into the furniture to avoid confusing residents or intruding too heavily. If someone else can see it's a smart home, it has failed." A third viewpoint avoids new technology completely, focusing instead on natural devices in their sustainable homes. Architect Andrew Winder has experimented with plants to keep the homes he has designed cool. He claims that exterior plants can provide shade in the summer, and pot plants inside can help to purify and cool the air.

Other low technology approaches include bringing solar radiation deep into houses to provide light and warmth. South-facing conservatories, for example, have been used very successfully in various housebuilding schemes.

In housing, as in politics, there is a middle route: combining the best of high, medium and low technology in a single package. So far, however, not one project has married the intelligence of a microchip to the 'common sense' of community design. Rather, most projects seem to be successful in one area without considering the other.

Looking to the future, and anticipated reductions in the cost of technology in the home, perhaps high technology and community will come together. However, new technology does not provide all the answers, and some teething problems are inevitable.

Widening the focus: Poundbury Housing

Few housing developments look beyond the specification of individual homes to consider wider objectives, like the effect of development on the existing community, or whether new housing will gel as a community.

One exception is the Poundbury development in the Duchy of Cornwall. Crown ownership of the land meant that Prince Charles was able to give a steer to the project.

His view was that "If development in the countryside is going to take place, then it must be done is such a way as to enhance, not detract from, the surrounding landscape." This was the plan at Poundbury, as well as "attempting to engender a sense of community within an environment comprising economic and residential use," said the Prince.

Architect Leon Krier, who defined the original concept, sought to respect the traditions of the past by using vernacular styles and materials. He also set out to create a townscape and road layout that would encourage the growth of an integrated community.

The design was intended to mirror the English village tradition by including the widest possible variety of urban plots: from mews, squares and courtyards to detached and terraced houses. Most roads are irregular and winding, intended to create public spaces with character, and to control the speed of cars.

The plans attracted criticism as a kitschy pastiche of outmoded styles when released in 1989, but attitudes seem to be changing.

The fact is, Poundbury appears to be working: the local housing association claims that you can't tell the social housing from private homes. Much of Middle England seemingly approves of the layout and architecture of the settlement, for the visitors' book is full of favourable impressions.

Energy efficiency in Poundbury

The Poundbury houses have been assessed to the National Home Energy Rating (NHER) and have scored between 85 and 100. They achieved this by using condensing boilers and very high thermal insulation.

The houses feature 200 mm of quilt insulation in the roof, 50 mm of polystyrene in the floor, and a 25 mm thermal block in the cavity walls, themselves made from 100 mm blocks. The homes also incorporate double glazing using Pilkington 'K' low emissivity glass.