On Thursday 3 September, RSUA hosted its second annual Conference, ‘Architecture 2026: Home Truths’, which delved into the architecture of the home in its many guises – from the rural, to the village, to the town, into suburbia and our city centres.
The event brought together architects, industry experts, and housing professionals and was a day for conversation, for meeting and hearing from others who share a passion for housing, design excellence and enabling lives full of health and happiness.
A diverse lineup of expert speakers from the UK, Ireland and beyond explored the main themes of the day. The lineup of knowledgeable speakers and panelists who shared their expertise and experiences included:
The day’s first section explored the ingredients and the process that delivers good new rural housing, from isolated homes to reinvigorated villages. Section two addressed how we can improve the quality of suburban housing and meet the housing need in Ireland over the coming decades without further urban sprawl.
The final part of the day saw Oliver Schulze of Schulze+Grassov deliver the keynote address. Oliver presented the architectural policy delivered for the Municipality of Kolding in Denmark and how the principles from this policy were being carried into Oliver’s work on the North Street/Donegall Street development in Belfast city centre.
Many thanks to our sponsors Lagan Building Solutions, David Scott Tiles, Radius Housing, Woven Housing Association, NIE Networks, Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council and the Northern Ireland Housing Executive for playing a key role in making this event happen.
Thanks also to to the following members of the RSUA Conference Sub-Committee for their involvement; Alan Jones, Donna Collins, Dan Benham, Paul Crowe and Nathan Campbell.
The day’s conversations continued outside the conference room, on Friday 4 September, with a series of three visits to housing projects in Belfast. Attendees explored the reworking of a traditional red-brick Belfast terrace at Studiorogers’ social housing project Ross Street Mews in West Belfast, Northern Ireland’s first build to rent scheme in Titanic Quarter by TODD Architects and TODD Architects’ landmark social housing scheme on one of Belfast city centre’s last remaining brown field sites of scale. Thank you to Michael Rogers and Sam Dill of Studiorogers, Rachel Colbert of TODD Architects and Aaron Crozier of TODD Architects for facilitating the tours.
