Meridian Newsletter: Fall/Winter 2011-Spring/Summer 2012 - Flexible Design

Flexible Design for Public Housing in Iqaluit, Nunavut

Avi Friedman and Elizabeth Debicka

A housing crisis in Nunavut is causing negative consequences for communities already stressed by several decades of rapid change. Many new homes are needed quickly, but they must be designed with care so that they meet the needs of Inuit in the short and long term.

Public housing in the Canadian Arctic has a history of poor adaptation to the social and cultural realities of Inuit communities and the northern climate. In this article we look at how a user-led, flexible approach can help tailor the design of new public homes to the needs of the local housing authority and occupants. Flexibility, incorporated into the pre-occupancy, post-occupancy and refurbishment stages of the unit's life-cycle, means that the dwelling can adapt as the needs of its inhabitants change over time. Housing authorities and residents are offered a choice of interior and exterior design components. The redevelopment of Widow's Row, in Iqaluit, Nunavut, demonstrates how appropriate design can play a pivotal role in addressing the housing crisis.

Background

Following World War II permanent settlements began taking shape across Canada's Eastern Arctic. Attracted to the communities by services such as health care and schooling, and opportunities for wage employment, Inuit left behind their semi-nomadic existence in growing numbers. To improve the living conditions in the settlements the Government of Canada initiated mass public housing programs.

The first housing prototype, introduced in 1959, was called the "matchbox" because it of its small size—3.66 by 7.32 meters (12 by 24 feet). According to Peter Collings (2005), the matchbox "was poorly designed for the Arctic environment, and residents typically fell behind on their payments or ceased using them altogether because of the high costs of heating and maintaining the houses during the long winter." Throughout the ensuing decades, the designs of housing prototypes were repeatedly revamped in an attempt to address issues of affordability, accommodate large Inuit families, and improve the quality of the prefabricated homes imported from the South. 

Units delivered across the Arctic embodied Euro-Canadian notions of the household and introduced partitioning between rooms, a foreign concept for Inuit, who were used to dwellings with one communal living space. The kitchens were ill-equipped for preparing country foods and the interior spaces did not accommodate land-based activities (Figure 1).

Figure 1: The Ukiivik, ("winter home") typical of the units built under the Eskimo Housing Rental Program 1965-1969 (Dept. of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, 1969).

As described by Robert Robson,

The houses were inferior, expensive, small, often not provided with services and above all else, clearly not constructed with a view to meet the housing needs of the local population. In this regard, the living space was compartmentalized, there was no workspace within the unit to clean or prepare meat or fix snow machines, [and] little thought was given to storage areas [...].

Despite efforts to improve the quality of public housing over the ensuing decades, the absence of users from the design process has meant that public housing is often ill-suited to Inuit.

To this day, public housing in Iqaluit fails to adequately meet the needs of Inuit households: overcrowding remains a serious issue and houses remain ill-adapted to the cultural requirements of families.

Although community consultation has recently been incorporated into the approval stage of public housing in Iqaluit, community input can and should play a greater role throughout the process. Users need to participate in design if current and future housing needs are to be met with practical dwellings well suited to the Inuit way of life and the Arctic environment. 

Flexible design

Flexible housing can reduce costs over the long term by extending the lifecycle of public housing. Schneider and Till (2005a) encourage the public sector to recognize the long-term economic advantages of flexible design: " [If] technological systems, service strategies and spatial principles are employed that enable the flexible use of a building, these buildings will in turn last longer." Flexible design projects need not be expensive and complex, requiring expertise unavailable locally, as some have been in the past. Standardization of building measurements and materials, for example, is a simple and cost-effective way to ensure that future housing can be economically retrofitted and adapted to the needs of changing households.

Furthermore, if flexible design truly responds to the social and cultural needs of its inhabitants, their satisfaction will translate into increased housing longevity. Schneider and Till (2005a) indicate that flexibility includes long-term economic savings "such as a higher appreciation of the dwelling on the part of the user, less occupant fluctuation, and the ability to react quickly to changing needs or wants of the existing or potential inhabitants and the market." Where flexible design meets the economic requirements of a public housing strategy, it also supports environmentally responsible initiatives in public housing development.

Reducing the environmental impact of housing is integral to the concept of flexible design. Longer-lasting units mean less new construction, retrofitting, and rehabilitation -- and fewer condemned houses sent to the local dump. This is significant given the resource-intensive nature of building in the Arctic. The emphasis on planning in flexible housing presents an important opportunity to make environmentally conscious decisions during design. Where flexible design can reduce the use of materials through standardization, it can also facilitate future alterations.

Widow's Row: A Case Study for Flexible Housing in Iqaluit

In fall, 2007 planning officials from the City of Iqaluit invited us to design public housing to replace existing dwellings on Widow's Row, a narrow plot of land of about a  hectare adjacent to Iqaluit's downtown and near Inukshuk High School (Figure 2).

Figure 2: An aerial view and images of the Widow's Row site.

The site consisted of fourteen single family, public housing units constructed in the 1970s. Today, these units are dilapidated and require extensive repairs. Not only are the buildings themselves in poor condition - insufficient insulation, poor quality of construction materials and lack of general maintenance are some of the problems - they were also inadequately designed for their inhabitants and did not adapt well to the shifting needs of the community. Given the site's central location and the scarcity of buildable land in Iqaluit, such low density is unsustainable. Consequently, the City encouraged the redevelopment of the Widow's Row site.

We were asked to create a plan and design public housing units adapted to the Arctic environment, the site and, most importantly, to the social and cultural requirements of the inhabitants. A flexible design approach required that we study and incorporate the intersecting factors that affect public housing design in Nunavut. We carefully studied the local climate and developed a typology of unit-level and planning responses; we surveyed available information on Inuit dwelling culture and lifestyles; and we developed an overview of the socio-demographic profile of the community. 

Site plans were conceived according to the need for a medium density development that safely accommodates pedestrians and snow machines alike. We identified communal spaces for children's play, soapstone carving, and socializing, and included common parking, reduced setbacks, and multi-unit buildings with private entrances. The plan also suggested individual storage units for hunting and fishing equipment. Lastly, climatic considerations affected site design: buildings were oriented to take into consideration wind direction and solar exposure, and located so as to shelter each other; houses were aligned parallel to prevailing winds and raised above grade to prevent permafrost thaw and allow snow-bearing winds to pass underneath without forming drifts; the structure's silhouette was streamlined, with shallow roof slopes; and entrances included wind locks to prevent drafts when the door is opened (Figure 3).

Figure 3: The proposed site (9,400 sq. m) has 50 new dwellings, a density of 54 units/hectare and 47 parking stalls. [Image: Shuang Chen]

Unit Design

A dwelling's lifecycle consists of three phases: pre-occupancy, occupancy, and post-occupancy. Our approach applied flexibility to all three.

For the pre-occupancy phase we incorporated principals of flexibility into community consultation and the design process, so that public housing would meet the needs of future occupants and the community. Secondly, flexibility played an important role during occupancy: housing must be adaptable to family lifestyles and changing family composition. Lastly, flexibility is an important factor in the rehabilitation of units, ensuring that dwellings will meet the needs of new tenants or that they can easily and economically be refurbished over time.

Flexibility Prior to Occupancy

To meet the needs of the eventual residents we created a choice of design options to be selected by the future occupant or an agency representing them. Floor plans include a list of features that can be incorporated into the unit design according to budget and household requirements. A "menu" made available by a builder could include a range of components to assist occupants with limited mobility and adapt the house for elders and small children. 

Depending on household composition and lifestyle, a choice of floor plans is available. The size and layout of the kitchen, bathroom, and multipurpose room can be adapted according to need, and there are different options for interior and exterior components (Figures 4 and 5). Although residents of public housing change over time, in Iqaluit people often remain in a dwelling for long periods. Ensuring that they are satisfied with their homes is an important step towards improving the sustainability of public housing.

Figure 4: Menu of Interior Components. [Image: Shuang Chen]

Figure 5: Menu of Exterior Components. [Image: Shuang Chen]

The local housing authority consults the future occupants on their choice of floor plan and interior menu components. Future occupants also have a say in where to locate these items during conception of each dwelling's layout, according to their need.  When these are decided the housing authority passes the information on to the unit developer (Figure 6).

Figure 6: Examples of floor plan scenarios selected according to the needs of housing occupants. [Image: Shuang Chen]

Given the growing number of skilled tradespeople in Nunavut, prefabrication of materials can and should take place in Iqaluit. Rather than imposing one standard design and expecting families to conform, this flexible system of design supports the needs of occupants in a cost-effective manner.

Post-Occupancy Flexibility

Public housing that can adapt to the evolving the needs of its occupants will last longer and have less impact on the environment. Northern housing needs to adapt to families that differ in composition and change over time. Inuit families tend to be large, and there is insufficient housing for growing families. In addition, multiple generations of one family—a grandmother, a young mother and her child, for example—may live under a single roof, and it is common for extended family members to join a household for various reasons.

Designing for flexibility while the dwelling is occupied is an important strategy to accommodate changing household realities. If, for example, the multipurpose room designed as a laundry and workroom has a window, it can be converted into a bedroom if necessary. Likewise, a home office can also function as a sewing room and, if designed with a window, can be converted into a small bedroom should the need arise. Including additional windows, and not labelling rooms, are simple and affordable ways to design a dwelling that adapts to changing families.

Unit designs also included a range of options to create a highly adaptable floor plan. Appropriate housing design for Inuit communities supports the lifestyle of residents, providing the storage and workspace needed by families who hunt and fish. Cold porches are incorporated into the design of all units. These are unheated vestibules for storing outdoor clothing and equipment (caribou-skin winter clothing must be kept cool) that provide a transition zone between the interior and exterior where people can acclimatize to major changes in temperature.

According to Peter Dawson (2003), "the [highly compartmentalized] spatial configuration of Euro-Canadian houses often makes Inuit household activities difficult to organize, execute and complete." In our design an open floor plan for the kitchen and living area creates communal space that is highly integrated. Open-concept kitchens, a common practice in modern housing design, are well-suited to the needs of Inuit households. They transform the kitchen from its traditional service purpose into a practical, adaptable, and efficient utility space that not only accommodates food preparation, but also enables clear supervision of children playing and allows large families to gather together for meals. An expanded living room becomes a more flexible all-purpose space that can also be used as a study, a sewing room, dining room, sitting room, and play area. By maximizing the general communal living space, the open concept floor plan facilitates the visiting and social interaction that Inuit value.

Extensive community consultation is essential. Consultation allows the creation of homes that support the cultural activities integral to the lives of residents, and are well adapted to their specific needs (Figure 7).

Figure 7: A block of dwellings made-up of units and exteriors selected by occupants in a simulation exercise. [Image: Shuang Chen]

Conclusion

Given the existing shortage of quality housing and the rapid population growth expected for Iqaluit, developing a robust and culturally appropriate framework for the design of public housing in the Arctic is urgent. To date, public housing in Iqaluit has not addressed the housing needs of Inuit residents to the full extent possible. Furthermore, the imposition of southern Canadian design standards and norms has produced houses poorly suited to the needs of the Inuit population and the Arctic climate. Although the quality and cultural-specificity of public housing built in Iqaluit have dramatically improved in recent years, we recognize that architects can play a pivotal role in improving the design of public housing there.

By adhering to a philosophy of flexible design, architects have the opportunity to design according to the needs of Inuit households. When undertaken in good faith, a flexible approach integrates the contributions of residents and public housing authorities, allowing them to shape the thrust of housing design from its very outset. Flexibility alone will not solve the housing crisis in the Canadian Arctic; however, research demonstrates that user-led, flexible design has the potential to improve the environmental, economic and cultural suitability of public housing in Iqaluit.

Acknowledgements

We would like to acknowledge the participation and contribution of Shuang Chen, Bassem Eid, Reza Assasi, Scott Mack, Nima Razavi and Huang Qian in the design of the project.

Avi Friedman is a Professor with the Affordable Homes Program at McGill University School of Architecture. Elizabeth Debicka is a researcher there.

References

Beisi, Jia, 1995. "Adaptable Housing or Adaptable People?", Architecture et Comportement / Architecture and Behaviour, vol.11, no.2, pp. 139-162. Lausanne, Switzerland.

Collings, Peter, 2005. "Housing Policy, Aging, and Life Course Construction in a Canadian Inuit Community", Arctic Anthropology, vol.42, no.2. pp. 50-65. Wisconsin UP, Wisconsin, United States.

Dawson, Peter, 2003. "Examining the Impact of Euro-Canadian Architecture on Inuit Families Living in Arctic Canada", Chapter 21 in: Proceedings, Fourth International Space Syntax Symposium, London, England, June 17-19, 2003. London, United Kingdom.

Nielsen, Christian Woetmann, and Ivor Ambrose, 1994. "Lifetime Adaptable Housing Standard", Technology and Disability, vol.10, pp.11-19. IOS Press, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Robson Robert, 1995. "Housing in the Northwest Territories: The Post-War Vision",  Urban History Review, vol.24, no.1, pp.3-20. Becker Associates, Toronto, Canada.

Schneider, Tatjana ,and Jeremy Till, 2005a. "Flexible Housing: Opportunities and Limits", Architectural Research Quarterly, vol.9, no.2, pp.157-66. Cambridge UP Cambridge, Great Britain.

Schneider, Tatjana, and Jeremy Till, 2005b. "Flexible Housing: The Means to the End", Architectural Research Quarterly,vol.9, no.2, pp.157-66. Cambridge UP Cambridge, Great Britain.

 

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