St. Josephs Age Friendly Housing Development

Description

St Joseph’s is a former religious convent with various outbuildings located on a 2.29 ha site in Waterford City Centre. The main building was originally constructed c.1900 and was used as the Convent for the Little Sisters of the Poor. There has been very little use of the building since 2010 except when it was used briefly for temporary school accommodation.
All of the buildings proposed to be refurbished are included in the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage and also as protected structures in the Waterford City Development plan.
In total, 71 units were delivered, with 50 units located within the main building and 21 located within the various out-buildings clustered on the site.
64 of the units are apartments, with the remaining 7 dwelling houses.
The breakdown of the proposed units are: 42 x 1Beds, 28 x 2beds and 1 x 3bed.
The site is excellently located in a city center location with ease of access to a full range of local services and facilities. There are bus stops serving 7 different bus routes within 250m of the site which serves the city center, Waterford University Hospital, primary health care centers, libraries, shops etc.
The dwelling units are served by a number of external spaces which will provide a good connection to the outdoors for recreation and functional needs such as a community garden / allotments etc. Despite the topography of the site, a number of gentle slope walkways linking the different areas of the site have been incorporated and will form a great connection to the immediate community outside the boundary of the site including well established Barracks Street and Cartridges Avenue.
In addition to this, at the centre of the main building is a multipurpose day room in what was the old chapel which has potential for hosting get togethers / entertainment purposes which will be operated in conjunction with the local authority / AHB.
This project is being delivery through the Repair and Lease scheme (RLS). The RLS is targeted at owners of vacant properties which cannot afford or who do not have access to the funding required to bring these properties up to the rental standards. The RLS tackles the issue of vacancy as well as having the additional benefits in terms of regenerations, employment and investment in the local area.
The maximum allowable funding from RLS of €60,000 per unit has been granted by the DHLGH totaling €4,260,000 with the remainder to be funded by the property owner.

Once complete, the units will be leased to WCC for 25 years and the units will be tenanted by qualifying households on the housing list.

Aim of Initiative

This project was an opportunity to return to productive use, an iconic building which will showcase many of the key objectives from both Rebuilding Ireland and Housing for All.
The re-use of vacant buildings is also an objective of the National Re-Use strategy and Waterford Vacant Homes Action Plan.
This site will provide an exemplar project for both city center living for accommodation for older people along with an opportunity to roll out a pilot scheme for a Rightsizing Policy for local authority tenants.
The 2020 Summary of Social Housing Assessments indicated that out of 1,267 qualified households, 22% were aged over 50. There was also an indication that 57% of qualified households were single person households. This has determined the breakdown of the units to be provide in this development.

Who is it aimed at

Older people coming from the Housing list, existing Local Authority Tenants and private home owners rightsizing

3 Steps critical to success

1. Before approving the property for the scheme, a long preparation process took place including consultation with Waterford City and County Council Housing Departments technical team, with the property owners and the selected design team to agree on a various suitable type of units, to accommodate and to meet the needs of the occupants. Crucial to the project was achieving planning permission for such a large scale development, preparing all essential documentation, and ensuring all documents were submitted for the planning process, meeting deadlines while obtaining planning permission for the development.
2. Preparing and seeking approval for the development from the Department of Housing to securing funding of over 4 million for 71 units with an agreed schedule of loan payment.
3. Successfully tendering and appointing of a suitable contractor by the property owner, who could deliver the project of this scale in post pandemic building environment on time and with excellent workmanship with high standards resulting in a job very well done.

3 Challenges in Planning / Delivery

1. The redevelopment of the existing building has its challenges when it comes to meeting all the requirements of universal design with the fire regulations having precedence on the layout, however each of the 71 units exceeds the spatial requirements contained within the Quality Housing for Sustainable Communities and 2018 Apartment Guidelines
2. Meeting agreed deadlines for the delivery of the property was a big challenge to the owner and the contractor. There were several factors including unforeseen additional works to be carried out on the property, shortages of building materials and the ever increasing costs for materials was ever challenging to keep within budget.
3. The sourcing of third party service providers and the delay with same was always a challenge to keep work turning over to meet deadlines.

3 Outcomes / Benefits

1. Each of the 71 units exceeds the spatial requirements contained within the Quality Housing for Sustainable Communities and 2018 Apartment Guidelines, all have level access leading up to and within the units, the basements units will have full wet rooms and 40% of the units will have an additional bedroom.
2. All dwellings in the various out-buildings have independent own door access with circulation spaces and level access across most of the site. Apartments within the main building have independent own-door access via communal protected areas that will be access-controlled.
3. There are internal and external common areas where tenants can meet and socialize and there will be an emphasis on inclusion of the wider community through the sharded spaces and gardens. Although exempt from the requirement of a BER, it is expected that these units will range from C2 – A2 BER rating due to the high levels of insulation and standard of construction applied to future proof the building.