At yesterday's Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland (RIAI) awards ceremony, Springvale Grove, the social housing project we designed and delivered alongside ABK Architects for Dublin City Council was commended for its approach to Universal Design.

Following engagement with future users, the new community building and homes were all designed to meet the Council’s stringent access standards.

All homes have level access provision, including all above ground homes via lifts, with 5% of the 71 new homes designed to achieve Universal Design ‘Plus’ Standards.

All Universal Design ‘Plus’ homes feature at least 2 bedrooms to support flexibility, catering for both individuals and small families, and are distributed throughout the development to provide choice to new tenants.

The new buildings are easily accessible for all from nearby roads and public transport through the use of new dropped kerbs and tactile paving, and are arranged around a new low speed internal street which runs through the site and provides accessible level routes to a series of play areas and a new community building.

Dedicated accessible parking bays are provided along the internal street within easy reach of all Universal Design ‘Plus’ homes.

Congratulations to everyone involved!