The organisation responsible for the redevelopment of London's Olympic park held a public consultation recently - specifically a consultation on a parcel allocated to residential development - so I went along. The offer was a fairly standard mix of private for sale and affordable (i.e. subsidised) housing; no baugruppen in sight. I had a couple … Continue reading Baugruppen & infra
Berlin baugruppe projects compared
Dessau graduate student Winnie yuen-pik Chan has done a comparative study of Berlin baugruppe projects: [gigya src="http://static.issuu.com/webembed/viewers/style1/v1/IssuuViewer.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" menu="false" style="width:420px;height:148px" flashvars="mode=embed&layout=http%3A%2F%2Fskin.issuu.com%2Fv%2Flight%2Flayout.xml&showFlipBtn=true&documentId=100826043409-2c2d78571a534a868b60af6b4aa6e7c6&docName=thesis_book&username=winnie&loadingInfoText=The%20Phenomenon%20of%20Building%20Group%20(Baugruppe)%20in%20Berlin%3A&et=1368802864149&er=80" width="420+ height="160"] The comparison between a private developer project and a baugruppe project on pp. 61-64 is interesting. This is a German private development, so decently large. The baugruppe advantage here is … Continue reading Berlin baugruppe projects compared
Danish density
Following the last post, I thought I should try to get some data on housing density in Copenhagen, which is widely taken as a model for urban development. From this paper by Jin Xue at Aalborg, I get a figure for habitable space in Copenhagen of 51 m2 per person. Interestingly, this is at a … Continue reading Danish density
British density
Britain is often described as crowded. London? Well, it seems stupid even to ask the question: of course it’s crowded. But I’d like to flip the question around. How much space can a person in Britain reasonably expect? And, for comparison, how much space does he or she actually have? Some back of the envelope … Continue reading British density
‘Benefits to bricks’
Not directly relevant to baugruppen but still interesting as an indication of a shift in housing public policy: housing benefit funds may be devolved to pay for social housing. The IPPR recommended this, and the Commission on London Finance, established by the mayor, now backs it.
UK self-build pioneers
Oliver Wainwright describes two group self-build schemes; one in Lancaster, another just outside Leeds. These two projects both emphasise building a sense of community, and have design features - such as a communal kitchen in Lancaster - to reinforce that. This might be a step too far for some, so it's worth bearing in mind … Continue reading UK self-build pioneers
Vauban
Compare and contrast. Chelsea Barracks, 5.2 ha. Sold for £959 million to a housing development consortium in 2007. Site remains empty. Woolwich Arsenal, 13 ha. Parcelled up and the best plots sold, from 2003 onwards, to housing developers such as Berkeley Homes and Barratt Homes. Large parts of the site remain undeveloped; enough for 5,000 … Continue reading Vauban
Groupbuilding 