Flex Housing

ACCESSIBLE ARCHITECTURE: BEYOND THE RAMP – OCTOBER 2016
We have been talking about accessible housing for thirty years, but I think our aging population will
push us to get it done. Baby boomers have the money and influence to make things happen. They
will demand something different.
By the time I sit down to design a building or a house, I have already done a lot of homework. The
needs of the end users direct my thinking. People who are aging or people with visual and other
physical disabilities are topmost in my mind because they tend to be my clients. They influence me.
To accommodate them, we need reasonably spaced accommodations, which is also often multigenerational.
Working from the inside out as I do is called experiential architecture.
Tom Parker, who helped coin the phrase FlexHousing in 1995 when he worked with Canada
Mortgage and Housing Corporation, had comparable conclusions. FlexHousing is adaptable,
accessible, and affordable. According to Tom: “FlexHousing is an award-winning concept and a
viable alternative in today’s market.” Recently, CMHC has insisted as well on the need for healthy
housing. The typical Canadian house is none of these things!
We entered two submissions into the FlexHousing Design Competition: one for the singledetached
housing and the other for the horizontal multiple housing. In both categories, we were the
“Prairie Regional Winner” in Stage 1. Our single detached housing concept later received a National
Award of Merit.
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