The innovative housing pilot lead by Monmouthshire Housing Association (MHA) in partnership with the Welsh School of Architecture (WSoA) continued this month with a showcase of four bungalows in Abergavenny; designed specifically for over 60s seeking to downsize.
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Funded by the Welsh Government’s Innovative Housing Fund, the ‘Homes for the Future’ bungalows were designed to offer, a generous living and outside space, complete with a secure private courtyard garden. Built to offer flexibility in the future, the Welsh School of Architecture created two separate layouts with either one bedroom with a separate kitchen or two bedrooms with an open plan living area depending on household need.
Built on a former garage site, Cwrt y Ffynnon, located on St Telios Road in Abergavenny. was opened up to the community, potential downsizers, local councillors, Welsh Government and others within the housing sector during for a series of open days to show case these ‘slim down’ innovative homes. With both layout options available to view during the show case, it was a fantastic opportunity to hear what those thinking about downsizing and potential tenants wanted from a future home.
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Cwrt y Ffynnon is the second part of the innovative housing pilot from MHA and WSoA, following on from the successful launch of four one bedroom mews style homes aimed at under 35’s in Caldicot.
John Keegan, Chief Executive of Monmouthshire Housing Association said: “These bungalows are the products of a joint vision for the future of older persons housing between MHA and the prestigious Cardiff University School of Architecture.”
“We have been blown away by the feedback, people have been clamouring for more of the same, and loving the sense of space, style and design of the homes. We certainly see this as a way forward and are already planning more of the same around the county. Why not drive by and have a look, you’ll soon see why people love them and we are so proud of them.”
Professor Wayne Forster from the Welsh School of Architecture said: “It is fantastic to be involved alongside MHA on this project and collaboratively work with MHA’s, in-house Building Services team to bring our designs to life.”
“These four homes were designed to meet the needs of older persons specifically downsizers without compromising on space and maintaining privacy and intimacy through the courtyard garden.”
“The homes have state of the art monitoring including a weather station, internal environmental meter, hot water meter, smart energy meters and air quality equipment. Each home has been built to be highly sustainable and energy efficient, with a Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP) impressively in excess of 100 – meaning it is a nett exporter of energy to the grid”.
Monmouthshire County Councillor Roger Harries who attended the event said: “This is a fantastic collaborative venture between MHA and the Welsh School of Architecture. I am proud to associate myself with these top-class new building projects that MHA provides for tenants and hope MHA will be building more social housing in the area with the quality and innovation that exists in Cwrt y Ffynnon. It will be lucky tenants who get to live in each futuristic bungalow as these super energy efficient buildings will require very little energy input.”
The new homes will be allocated through the Monmouthshire Homesearch allocations system, with priority given to people over the age of 60 who are seeking to downsize.
