Dublin-based JFOC Architects has launched a medium-density housing concept called the compact green city, designed to deliver four times more dwellings per site than conventional semi-detached estates while reducing apartment building costs by an estimated 30%.

Business Eye reported that the three-storey design achieves 100 dwellings per hectare, a density equivalent to established urban neighbourhoods such as Portobello and Stoneybatter in Dublin, and is intended to comply fully with existing building and planning regulations.

The concept minimises road provision in favour of shared green space, with cars parked at the site perimeter or beneath homes, freeing up an estimated 30% of site area for public green space and pocket parks, which JFOC argues are cheaper to deliver than estate roads.

Claire McManus of JFOC Architects, who also serves as housing spokesperson for the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland (RIAI), said solving the housing crisis is not just about delivering units but about creating communities, arguing that great public spaces are just as important as high-quality houses.

McManus said streets of houses are cheaper to build than apartments but do not deliver sustainable densities that allow businesses and communities to flourish, while apartments are expensive to produce, less popular than houses, and often feature communal spaces that residents find uncomfortable.

The design comprises two block typologies: small apartment blocks arranged in a checkerboard pattern around semi-private gardens, and perimeter blocks with two-storey apartments stacked above car parking and arranged around a raised shared garden. Every resident has a private balcony or terrace and a front door leading directly to a shared garden.

Explore the full details of JFOC Architects' compact green city housing concept.