Ballough Place

Description

Ballough Place is an age-friendly housing development delivered by Fingal County Council in the heart of Lusk village. The project replaces a car garage on a 0.25 hectare site with 10no. apartments, carefully designed to meet the needs of tenants on the social housing list including older tenants and those with special requirements. The project incorporates many age friendly principles such as:
• Location: The development is centrally located, close to shops, community facilities, green spaces, and public transport, allowing residents to remain connected and engaged with village life.
• Connection to Outdoors: All units overlook a large landscaped communal courtyard to the rear of the site, fostering social interaction and a sense of community. Ground floor units have private patios, while first-floor units have recessed terraces.
• Approach & Access: Each apartment has level access at both front and rear doors. Ground floor apartments have own door access, and first-floor apartments are accessed via an external deck, served by a passenger lift and ambulant disabled staircase.
• Entering & Movement: All apartments have spacious entrance halls, wide internal doors, and open-plan living spaces promote easy movement and flexibility within the home.
• Spare Bedroom: All units (with the exception of the specially adapted one-bedroom unit) have two bedrooms. For older/downsizing tenants the second bedroom can be used as a guest room to accommodate a carer, friend, or family member, supporting residents’ social connections and care needs.
• Accessible Bathrooms: All apartments include level-access showers for ease and safety.
• Energy & Cost Efficient: The development meets A2 BER standards, featuring high-performance triple-glazed windows, air source heat pumps, and demand-controlled ventilation. This ensures excellent thermal comfort and low energy bills, reducing fuel poverty and supporting residents’ health and well-being.

Aim of Initiative

The primary aim of this project was to develop an underutilised brownfield site into sustainable social housing for tenants on the social housing list, including older residents and those with special needs. By providing thoughtfully designed homes that prioritise accessibility, comfort, and energy efficiency, Ballough Place addresses the urgent demand for suitable housing in the community. Ballough Place supports older residents to live independently for longer, fosters a sense of community, and promotes ageing in place.

Who is it aimed at

These homes are aimed tenants on the social housing waiting list, many of which may be older/downsizing tenants and/or tenants with special needs.

3 Steps critical to success

1. In the Fingal Development Plan 2017-2023, the site was referred to as a ‘Key Garage Site’ given its prominent location as you approach Lusk village from Dublin Road. The Development Plan contained a number of Objectives regarding the height, materials, finishes planting and open space for any proposed development which informed and shaped the scheme’s design.
2. The site is within an Architectural Conservation Area (ACA) and within the view of two protected structures (Former St. Maccullins Church of Ireland Church and Tower of former St. Macculins Church). Both are prominent feature on the Lusk skyline from all approach roads. The Fingal Development Plan included several Preserved Views along Dublin Road. In response to this, the building is set back from the existing building line and the design at Part XI stage limited to 2½ storeys in height. A Visual Impact Assessment and photomontages were prepared at planning stage to demonstrate that the proposal had minimal visual impact on the Preserved Views.
3. Developing an early understanding of the site, its context, constraints and proximity to services, amenities and transport links to ensure the project met the requirements for age friendly housing. This informed the design and internal layout of the scheme.

3 Challenges in Planning / Delivery

1. Typically, social housing projects take a minimum of 2.5 years from initial inception to completion. In the case of Ballough Place, this site is located within an Archaeological Conservation Area (ACA) which required an archaeological impact assessment and archaeological monitoring prior to Part XI and a full archaeological dig of the site carried out under a separate enabling works contract. All of which extended the timeframe to completion.
2. During the Part XI public consultation stage several observations noted concern regarding the roof height and steep roof pitches. Whilst the design satisfied the Objectives in the Development Plan, the design was revised by reducing the height from 2½ to 2 stories and providing shallower roof pitches to expose views of St Macculin’s Church in Lusk on the approach from the south of the site on Dublin Road.
3. In general, a tenant’s specific needs are only confirmed during construction and in some cases post-handover. This is challenging if there are any alterations which may require revised planning permission, or if additional funding is required as there is currently no mechanism to apply for additional funding at construction stage. To address this, the design incorporated as many age-friendly principles as possible to accommodate a broad range of possible future needs.

3 Outcomes / Benefits

1. The revitalisation of an underutilized brownfield site into an attractive new housing development benefiting from the use of established community, local amenities and good transport links.
2. All apartments are dual aspect and incorporate low-cost, sustainable features including heat pumps, demand-controlled ventilation which result in significantly lower utility bills. These energy efficient measures promote long-term affordability, help alleviate fuel poverty, and ensure excellent thermal comfort and air quality, supporting the health and well-being of tenants.
3. Allocating apartments to downsizing tenants has made larger homes available for families, better aligning housing supply with community needs.