LHDG – From Street to Front Door (3)
September 2nd, 2010
“It is easier for outsiders to gain access to and linger in the interior areas of a building shared by 24 to 100 families than it is in a building shared by 6 to 12 families.” – Oscar Newman
Section 3 kicks off with a welcome objection to blocks with single aspect “hotel” flats.
“. . . apartment buildings with long, double-loaded corridors. These are more suited to a short-stay hotel and do little to foster a permanent sense of home.”
3.1 Entrance and Approach
Their comments here are apparently drawn from two sources being the writings of Alice Coleman; and the Lifetime Homes criteria. They relate both to common sense surrounding accessible and overlooked entrances and space for people in wheelchairs.
“The design of the threshold between the public realm of the street and the private realm of the home affects people’s sense of security in, and ownership of, their homes.”
Donnybrook has none – I think that’s worth considering when a new development dumps the owners directly on to the street.
3.2 Shared Circulation Within Buildings
Alice Coleman and Oscar Newman can be “heard” in the background here, their shared research and wisdom cascading down the years but with less direct influence than I would have liked. The following bodes well:-
“Housing based on double-loaded corridors has particular limitations both in the single-aspect dwellings they demand and in the circulation spaces, which are often poorly lit and ventilated.”
and continues in much the same vein . . .