Live/Work Units on the Rise in Dublin
Irish Independent, Wednesday 26th May 2004

Architects have been quietly moving the design goalposts in recent times to meet the demands of modern living.

Nowhere is this more evident than in the pioneering “live/work” units now emerging here.

The dominant “single use” approach to planning and design of the post-war period has generated serious problems for inhabitants of large urban centres today.

A shift to a “mixed-use” approach to land uses – whereby much of one’s work, home and social life can be conducted without travelling long distances & without using private or even public transport – has become recognised as a key to the success of modern cities going forward.

Mixed-use design is an important element in the effort to control urban sprawl, increasing the intensity and diversity of land uses and integrating previously segregated uses.

There has been a recognisable move in the US, the UK and Europe to plan for mixed-use where possible and out of this has emerged the phenomenon of live/work (or work/live) units in city centres – often involving converting old buildings, but sometimes creating brand new, purpose built-units, part-residential and part-office.

While mostly a city-centre concept, live/work units share principles with other enlightened planning trends, such as "neighbourhood centres", which aim to provide a range of retail outlets and services within walking distance for the local population.

The live/work design addresses the needs of the growing number of people trying to work from home, or teleworking. It acknowledges a specific and unique set of requirements for people who wish to and can, thanks to technology and because of the nature of their work, perform most of their work tasks from home.

It is a design and planning response to the fact that standard domestic designs do not provide all the necessary features to make working from home successful.

The emphasis is often on the residential element of the accommodation and the design must take into consideration the absolute right of neighbours not to be unusually disturbed by the work being performed.

Therefore, commercial activity is often set as a secondary use. Employees and walk-in trade are not usually permitted, and it is acknowledged that reverting to a purely residential function should be possible.

The growing number of home-based businesses in the United States (reported in 1997 as 4 million) is often cited as a justification for live/work. However, there is an important distinction between a “home-based business” and a “business-based home”.

Most home-based businesses can be accommodated in almost any kind of dwelling unit. In contrast, the business-based home is a true live/work unit – a dwelling unit with a configuration that is influenced or even dictated by the non-residential activities.

Anthony Reddy Associates has been involved in a number of cutting-edge design projects featuring key live/work elements, including the Eircom/OPW project Westgate in the Royal Hospital Kilmainham Heuston Area Masterplan, phase one of the Mayor Street redevelopment and Keelings, Green Street, the Chocolate Factory at Sir John Rogerson’s Quay and the mixed-use development at Green Street in the Markets Area.

The most intense example of this new design approach has been at another Eircom site at Distillery Road, Dublin 3. The brief included a purely residential element and 3 units dedicated fully to commercial use, but it also called for 26 work/live units with a gross floor area of 3,542m² – made up of six 1-bed units and 20 2-bed units.

There was a certain amount of demolition work involved, but there was also a more challenging need to make alterations to the façade and internal layout of a vaulted protected structure on the site including a corner tower.

The overall aim is to provide a “significant employment/enterprise/non-residential component” in accordance with the Z6 Zoning Objective.

Each work/live unit is integrated, interconnected and indivisible, and designed to enhance the multiplicity of work set out by the Dublin City Council regulation: “Office, medical and related consultants, data processing, software development, media associated uses, publishing and film production, home based economic activity, and/or primarily or partly used for residential uses”.

But the design has also left open the possibility of having the units revert to either pure residential or commercial use.

Brian O’Neill of Anthony Reddy Associates comments. “The concept of work/live units has found favour with Dublin City Council planners as it ties in with their policy objectives in relation to city transport and the reduction in car use. If people are working and living in adjacent spaces car movements can be greatly reduced.”