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BURO HAPPOLD
RESIDENTIAL
res.i.dence
ORIGIN late Middle English: from Old French, or from
medieval Latin residentia, from Latin residere ‘remain’
We work to create desirable places where people want to be. Balancing the practical requirements of end
users with architectural aesthetics, navigating intricate planning requirements and overcoming resource
limitations to achieve affordability without compromise on quality: this is what Buro Happold does best.
Buro Happold on Residential
The world is changing. Cities are growing, people are more
mobile and the planet is becoming smaller and more
fragile. For some, making a place called home is becoming
increasingly difficult.
Constraints in land availability, particularly in growing urban
areas, difficult economic conditions, the push to reduce the
carbon embedded in housing and dwindling energy resources
worldwide, are all challenges which Buro Happold is helping
its clients overcome.
The residential sector is increasingly interesting to investors
keen to take advantage of a market in which every property,
providing the price is right, can be relied upon to be let or
sold. In the UK it is estimated that one in five households will
be renting their homes from a private landlord or agent by
2016, creating a huge opportunity for new rental properties
to be brought to market. The last few years have seen a small
increase in the percentage of US homes which are rented and
emerging economies are seeing growing urbanisation create
huge demand for accommodation within cities.
The end clients in this sector are as varied as the properties
they buy. Individual tenants and purchasers, buy to let
landlords, high net worth individuals, property developers
and collective investment companies are all represented. What
unifies these clients is the need to maximise their investment,
ensuring that they secure quality properties at appropriate
prices. Whether affordable homes at the lower end of the
market, or super-prime developments in exclusive locations;
value and margin remain the key considerations.
At the top of the market, to ensure the finished product will
achieve its full value even the smallest detail must be perfect.
Quality and craftsmanship may come before budget, but this
is not a license to spend clients’ money. Rather it is a challenge
to identify what creates value and to concentrate the efforts of
our designers in achieving this. At all levels, intelligent design
can produce cost effective solutions; with the innovative use
of materials, or use of advanced structural analysis to create
breath-taking designs which help set properties apart from
the crowd.
There is a fundamental need to create sustainable homes able
to adapt to changing climate conditions. The natural world is
a precious resource that we squander at our peril and growing
concern for the environment has put sustainable development
at the top of the social, regulatory and corporate agenda. How
we interact with the environment is one of the major themes
and challenges of the 21st century and governments are
increasing the pressure on homeowners and developers to
find ways to reduce their energy use and carbon emissions.
The residential sector provides considerable opportunity
for high quality redevelopment to bring existing buildings,
including sensitive and heritage properties, back into use.
However, it is not all about the large scale and the iconic –
projects such as Retrofit for the Future are showing the way for
small scale redevelopment of residential property.
Perhaps more than any other sector, the residential sector
provides opportunities for large and small scale developments
which are inspiring, individual, culturally responsive,
sustainable and commercially viable. Buro Happold is excited
to be leading the march to challenge traditional ideas of what
a home should be and creating better places for people to live,
work and play.
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