Build a tiny house competition

matrim wrote: »

There are plenty of valid reasons for someone living in the city center to need to own a car.

Generally though, owning a car means you don't need to live in the city centre. I think people want to have their cake and eat it here, living right in the middle of a large city means you're going to have to give some things up unless you're willing to part with some very serious money. Same as you lose certain things by living out in the rural hinterland whilst saving money on the land/house price and getting to live in a much bigger home/have more space generally.

You can have a car space and 100+ sqm right in the centre of Dublin, just don't expect to be parting with "only" 400k unless the area or place "needs work."

Edit: I suppose what mostly surprises me here is the assumption that right on the quays you can have parking at that price and that the Council should be adding residential parking in an area that already suffers from very heavy traffic. Encouraging people without cars to live there is surely preferable no?

Thoie wrote: »

The building can be up to 6 storeys, and 400sqm. That's about 66.6sq m per floor, of which about 10 would need to go on communal stairs/lifts.

The article says "about 400sq m of living space" so no need to exclude communal spaces. With 4 families thats 100sqm each, more than enough.

I think arguments against this based on it not being suitable for you personally is ridiculous, for many people a scheme like this is the only way they could own a dwelling in the city centre. Not everybody has or needs a car, if you do have a car then this is not for you, that doesnt mean that it is not suitable for anybody.

I think it is a decent idea but I don't think implementing it in this way will work. Developing a new build 6 storey apartment block on a restricted infill site in the city centre would not be advisable for those with no experience. On only will the construction be expensive but there will also be high design costs too. If they are looking to attract novice developers, they would be better offering a site with less risks attached.

It would be better too take an existing but neglected building in, say, Mountjoy Square, and offered it to the Ma and Da developers. There are many period properties around the city which could make great family homes which are laying unused and falling into disrepair. New build could scare off potential participants and those who put their names forward will likely be biting off more than they can chew. Works to the envelope of an existing building and renovation internally is much more appropriate for Ma and Da who they want to attract with this initiative. This could be a good way to provide good quality family homes, protect said building and revive areas.

Thoie wrote: »

I've seen first hand what 2 adults and 3 children are like in a 70sqm 2 bed apartment. The double buggy, the tricycles for the oldest two, plus the bikes for the parents alone made the place a fire hazard (IMO) - all those things were in the hallway as they physically wouldn't fit anywhere else. They had the option of either having a proper table where all of them could sit down to eat together, or comfortable armchairs/sofas, as they couldn't have both.

This isn't just a problem of "we're used to too much space" (though I will admit my personal space bubble is about 10km in diameter). There are limits to what clever storage solutions will do for you.

I'd have to agree with this. I live in a 2 bed apartment and just one bicycle clogs up my hallway somewhat. I can't put it on the balcony as a neighbour had one nicked from there so it has to be the hallway. AFAIK it is pretty common on the continent to have lockable storage rooms in basement garages. This is especially more necessary in Scandanvian countries where every car legally needs to have two different sets of tyres. If that was the case in Ireland that you needed to store 4 car tyres for 6 months of the year well you just couldn't do it in most Irihh apartments. They really were shoddily planned and thrown up.

I also agree with you about the point of the all too common decent sofa or decent table dilemma. In many Irish apartments you can only have either one or the other, not both because the space just isn't there. It's very frustrating, I've got one of those small compact dining tables but I rarely use it because I just never feel comfortable or 'at home' sitting at such a tiny table. The frustrating thing too is I reckon my kitchen-living space only needs an extra 1.2m of length, then I could have both a decent sofa and a proper sized dining table. But alas, not to be. No wonder houses are always seen as the more attractive option:(

Anyway I think these properties by DCC will attract a lot of interest. Personally I wouldn't raise kids there but many families would. The car thing will be a barrier to many though I suspect. I'm car-less myself and motorbike and cycle everywhere, rarely take the bus. Works fine for me. But if you had kids then that's a whole different matter. For those reasons I think many families will be turned off. I'd imagine a development like this will be of interest to a lot of gay couples who want to live in the city center even into their 40s and 50s. They often have two very high disposable incomes and less need for a car as their social circle congregates on Parliment St and Capel St only two minutes walk away. For a gay couple who have a combined income of €100-120k pa and with no kids to raise then a project like this to create a very unique living space in the city centre will be really attractive to them