The Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland (RIAI) in partnership with the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (DHLGH), has opened the Joint National Housing Conference. 

Taking place in Waterford on March 11-12, this year’s conference, entitled 'Diversifying and Expanding our Housing Delivery' brings together high-profile speakers from government, local authorities, industry, and practice to explore solutions for the challenges Ireland faces in housing planning, design and delivery in the decades. 

Speakers include national and international housing experts including architects, urban designers, policy makers and planners. 

Innovative ideas for housing delivery

RIAI president Sean Mahon said: “This conference offers a unique opportunity for the built environment professionals in the public and private sectors to come together to discuss and develop innovative ideas for housing delivery.

"Housing is critical infrastructure required to sustain human well-being. Architects have a leadership role in driving innovation in housing design solutions the conference is an excellent opportunity to hear about new models and solutions that exist for housing delivery, but also to discuss the challenges impeding progress.

“Our discussions are set against a background of increasing urbanisation, the vast demographic changes in Ireland and the need to mitigate against climate change. The provision of high-quality homes, neighbourhoods and urban settlements are drivers of climate resilience social cohesion, cultural vibrancy, and economic growth.

"It is through collaboration, sharing experiences and ideas, and forward-looking thinking that we can achieve these objectives and enable the delivery of long-term sustainable housing for our people.”

New type of housing development

The conference will include an in-depth introduction to the Compact Settlement Guidelines and Design Manual. These guidelines will enable the building of a new type of housing development and bridge the gap between unsustainable suburban sprawl and unaffordable apartments.

The programme will also include further sessions examining ‘Quality Masterplanning’; ‘Sustainable Compact Settlements’; ‘Delivering at Scale’; ‘Town Centre First Initiatives’ and ‘Tackling Vacancy’. 

As is now traditional, the conference will feature the presentation to the winner of the biennial RIAI Silver Medal for Housing.

The Winning practices of the DHLGH and RIAI architectural design competition for Town Centre Living will present their winning schemes for public housing in the town centres of Castleblayney, Kildare, Roscrea and Sligo. 

Also included in the programme are a study tour of new housing projects and of the high-quality public realm in Waterford, which has been developed by an architect-led multidisciplinary team in Waterford County Council. 

The full programme is available to view at: 

https://www.riai.ie/whats-on/events/joint-national-housing-conference-2024