A Townhouse for Life
Abstract
In Helsinki, Finland, the townhouse is seen as a sustainable urban version of single-family house that can reduce urban sprawl. As the townhouse is a new housing type in the country and the number of apartments projected is considerable, further knowledge about potential resident profiles and their needs is required. This paper studies townhouses as a potential solution for lifetime housing. The study focuses on people over 55 years old who represent an age group relatively free from many aspects limiting housing decisions. This age group indicates the ageing populations’ future housing aspirations. The aim of the study is to enhance the aspects of user-friendliness that make townhouses suitable for a variety of resident groups. Two townhouse surveys, Finnish Dream Home (FDH) and Townhouse energy and environment survey (Envi) as well as a series of workshops were conducted to gain further knowledge about residential preferencies. The results of the study indicate that not only families with children but also couples and one-person households in all age groups are interested in townhouses. In this respect, the themes of accessibility and flexibility are explored using the FDH and Envi results and reflected to German and Finnish case studies. A Finnish townhouse may indeed answer the needs of lifetime housing if accessibility and ease of maintenance are taken into account. Accessibility nonetheless requires integral planning and realization of street, building plot, building and the apartment as a whole. For younger generations, the notion of accessibility may be transformed as flexibility in changing life situations. In that vein, seniors represent an important group whose needs and aspirations are to be integrated into future townhouse planning. The inclusive design of townhouse should include a variety of resident groups. All users may benefit a townhouse that provides accessible care-free housing and human scale urban milieu.
