Second Living Spaces

Many new home developments have already considered the lack of space for remote working have and have incorporated ‘second living spaces’.  

One example of this is Aylesbury in Ballintemple, below, where the designer included a work space on the landing.  In other developments, such as Reldare on Model Farm Road, Heathfield in Ballincollig, and Castle Heights in Carrigaline, a second living area room to the rear of the property serves as that extra space required to facilitate different requirements – be it an office, mini-gym or other non-traditional use.

The open plan property for larger families has definitely been put to the test in recent times, requiring perhaps the teenager to retract to his bedroom because there just are not enough places to get away from parents or siblings! A second living space is an alternative solution – for children, teens and adults alike.

New Criteria

While location still is the optimum consideration when deciding where to live, will location criteria change in the future?  

Pre-Covid-19, we had become a nation of convenient dwellers, close to work, to schools, to shops.  

But is this really what we want?  

During this enforced pause, have we learned to appreciate the aspects of life which we had been missing out on?  

Do you want to live near a river, or a forest, or the sea, or the countryside?  

After all, there are shops everywhere, there are schools everywhere – yes, you may have to travel to work, but do we all have to go at the same time?

While many will be unable to continue working from home, certainly a large cohort of people have learned that they can probably do a bit of both, which is likely to improve their productivity with the benefit of giving more time to the finer aspects of life.Of course, for someone in the market for a home, considerations will be dependent on their stage of life. 

Rethinking Requirements

Young professionals are likely to the choose city centre or close-by.  This will be for the lifestyle, the convenience of walking to the heart of the city for employment and, most importantly for socialising, meeting friends, shopping, etc.  

Second time buyers with families are now likely to look at an out of town or suburban location and give up the convenience for that extra bit of internal and external space. 

They may well consider a second hand home in the countryside or suburbs and will look for expandability and larger gardens.  Those trading down, however, may well look for convenience and accessibility in areas in or close to the city.   

Small developments of apartments close to amenities are likely to attract the trader down with covered parking and lift access being a priority. 

A very good example of such a scheme is Altus in Sundays Well, below.

Catherine McAuliffe is Director and Head of Residential at Savills Cork.