08.03.21

Launch of the Pilot Project “City Homes for All”

City Homes for All is a housing social pilot project, carried out in collaboration with Pådriv and supported by the Norwegian State Housing Bank (Husbanken). Based on one of JM’s most centrally located properties in Bryn, the project explores how new housing concepts can contribute to active ground floors in development areas and provide more affordable housing.

Bryn is set to be transformed from scattered commercial and industrial buildings into a new and vibrant neighborhood in the coming years. In these types of development areas, ground floors often remain vacant in the first years. Requirements for outward-facing activities at street level often prove difficult to meet because there are too few residents to sustain the offerings in the early stages of development. At the same time, the city is in dire need of more affordable housing accessible to a broader segment of the population.

City Homes for All highlights the potential in this contradiction and explores the possibilities for gradual and flexible development of ground floors; from affordable housing and communal spaces in the early years of development, to a situation-adapted mix of commercial, neighborhood, and residential functions when the neighborhood is fully developed. This requires flexibility in designing ground floors that can adapt to different functions and uses over time. The ceiling height should be suitable for two-story housing units that can be converted into spacious commercial spaces and communal areas. The project also proposes greater flexibility in the design of outdoor spaces, emphasizing community and year-round use. By incorporating parts of the housing’s outdoor space requirements under cover on the ground floor, these areas become social and green year-round gardens and catalysts for increased urban life. City Homes for All sees housing and the people who live in them as important resources for vibrant urban life. Activities that are based on residents can contribute to a greater sense of community, neighborhood, security, and belonging both while a new neighborhood is being developed and in the long run.

The full report can be downloaded and read here: City Homes for All.