The Housing Agency has launched a report offering insights into the benefits of intergenerational living through a scheme of 61 homes in Dublin.
The paper highlights a housing development delivered by Dublin City Council (DCC) on a brownfield site in Ballyfermot.
The scheme integrates Age Friendly and Universal Design, offering "a replicable model" for inclusive, sustainable social housing supporting older people to live independently, while fostering community integration.
The site previously accommodated 54 homes in a single-storey older people housing scheme, that were demolished in 2007.
However, for almost 20 years, the project faced numerous hurdles.
The recession resulted in the scheme being stopped from 2008, due to a lack of funding.
A new development proposal was completed by Dublin City Council in 2017 as part of its housing programme.
When construction finally started again in 2018, there were delays due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Hidden design costs such as enabling a fire engine to access all the homes, and the use of transfer slabs for the apartments above the duplexes then added to costs.
Cornamona Court was designed in accordance with Universal Design (UD) and Age Friendly principles, ensuring that both older residents and families could live independently.
It is located close to the church and local schools as well as Ballyfermot's main street with shops, library, sports and community buildings.
There are 28 houses and duplexes for general purpose family housing and 33 apartments for older people at upper levels.
The reason behind the configuration according to the report was to enable older residents retain a sense of security and privacy, whilst also being able to take part in community life, according to the report.
The majority of the apartments for older people are one-bedroom, two person homes, but there are a number of two-bedroom homes which can facilitate residents requiring a live-in-carer.
Many of the residents had previously lived in the surrounding area and "helped build strong community ties" from the outset.
Some of the residents at Cornamona Court moved in because they wanted to stay in their local area but didn’t want to move into an older person only scheme or a nursing home.
It was funded by the Department of Housing and the department was the sanctioning authority, while DCC was the sponsoring agency.
Among the lessons learned according to the Housing Insights report included engagement with local community during construction, hidden costs with the scheme and importance of developing a residents' committee.
The complex has received national recognition through an Age Friendly Housing Award, it was shortlisted for The Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland Public Choice Award 2024 and the Irish Council for Social Housing’s Public Choice Award 2025.
