Building communities as well as homes in Ireland

We welcomed a group of leaders from across planning, development, architecture and local government to our shared studio with Hawkins\Brown in Dublin for a roundtable discussion exploring a question at the heart of Ireland's growth story – how do we build communities as well as homes?

Chaired by Isabel Allen, Editor of Architecture Today, the discussion brought together:

• Stephen O'Malley, Chief Executive of Civic
• Aisling Murphy, Ireland Director at Civic
• Brian Mallon, Director at Hawkins\Brown
• Heike Neurohr, Partner at Hawkins\Brown
• Emmett Scanlon, Director of the Irish Architecture Foundation
• Emma Flanagan, Senior Planning Associate at Cairn
• Allan Kelly, Senior Programme Manager at the Land Development Agency
• Karl Mitchell, Director of Services at Dublin City Council.

Together, they represented a breadth of perspectives spanning design, development, delivery, policy and community engagement.

With housing delivery rightly dominating much of Ireland's built environment agenda, the conversation focused on what comes next. While there was broad agreement that increasing housing supply remains critical, participants challenged the idea that successful places can be measured by only housing numbers.

Karl Mitchell, Director of Services at Dublin City Council said: "We can't solve the housing crisis with bricks and mortar alone." 

And that became a sentiment that surfaced repeatedly throughout the afternoon and framed much of the discussion that followed. While housing delivery remains one of Ireland's most pressing challenges, participants were keen to explore what sits beyond the numbers. The conversation quickly moved from homes to communities and from infrastructure to identity.

The group touched upon the growing recognition that physical infrastructure alone cannot create successful places. Roads, transport links and utilities may unlock development, but it is social infrastructure – schools, community centres, public spaces and local services – that helps neighbourhoods take root and flourish. 

Emma Flanagan highlighted how the challenge of creating community spaces is one thing, but ensuring they remain active and valued over the long term is another. Allan Kelly built on this point, reflecting on the need to plan housing alongside the social infrastructure that supports everyday life, from schools and local services to community facilities and public spaces. Together, they argued for a more integrated approach to creating places that can evolve into successful communities.

For Stephen O’Malley, the answer lies in taking a system thinking approach bringing together developers, local authorities, communities and policymakers from the outset, rather than treating placemaking as something that can be layered on once the construction work is complete. 

The conversation also challenged conventional thinking about what community infrastructure actually looks like. Drawing on experience from projects across Ireland, the UK and Europe, Heike Neurohr said: “Some of the most valuable community assets are not buildings at all. Often, it is the spaces between them – streets, parks, squares and shared public realm – that shape how people experience a place and connect with one another.”

That idea resonated with Emmett Scanlon, who said: “Successful communities are not simply designed into existence, they emerge through shared experiences and the stories people tell about the places they inhabit. Understanding and measuring that value remains one of the sector's greatest challenges, but also one of its greatest opportunities.”

While perspectives varied around the table, there was broad agreement on the direction of travel. As investment in housing and infrastructure continues to accelerate across Ireland, the conversation can no longer be limited to what we are building. Increasingly, it must focus on what kind of places we want to create and whether they will still be thriving communities’ decades after the ribbon has been cut.

Fortunately, the conversation didn't end when the roundtable did.

As the formal discussion wrapped up, guests joined a wider gathering of colleagues and industry friends for an evening of food, drinks and networking at the studio. Old friends caught up, new connections were made and, as is often the case, some of the most interesting discussions happened after the official agenda had concluded.

It was a busy week for us in Ireland. Earlier in the week, members of our team attended the National Nature-based Solutions Conference in Dundalk, which brings together practitioners, policymakers and delivery partners to share practical approaches to implementing nature-based solutions across urban, rural, riverine and coastal settings.

Taken together, both events pointed towards the same conclusion. Whether discussing housing, infrastructure, public spaces or nature-based solutions, the most successful projects are those that start with people and place.