Future-Ready Design Guide: Key Concepts for Designing Housing that Lasts

Designing housing that lasts starts with making the right decisions in the earliest stages of the design process. This is when 80% of a building’s life cycle impact is determined and key building qualities are selected, which can either become assets or liabilities. What’s more, decisions done in this early phase determine how easily and cost-effectively the building will be able to accommodate future uncertainty and needs. With so much at stake in the early phases of design, it is critical to have a clear set of principles to help inform decisions that will lead to more durable and resilient designs—switching our thinking from simple sustainability metrics to a systems-approach. 

Join us for our next lecture on the Future-Ready Design Guide, a new resource developed by the Toronto Society of Architects (TSA) and funded by The Atmospheric Fund (TAF), as we explore key considerations for designing multi-unit residential buildings (MURBs) that last. 

This is the second in a three-part lecture series that delves into critical concepts for designing future-ready MURBs. In this session, a framework for assessing the suitability of typologies, materials, and methods will be covered, including:

• The “3-Ls” framework: Long Life, Loose Fit, and Low Impact
• The “Building-as-a-system” model
• Building layers and synchronizing service lives
• The Sustainability Measures Hierarchy (Lean, Green, Clean)
• Strategies for adaptability and resilience
• Critical considerations for MURB morphology

OAA MEMBERS: This lecture is eligible for 1 OAA Structured Learning Hour and meets the OAA criteria for mandatory structured learning hours focused on Climate Action as part of the 2024-2026 Continuing Education cycle. When registering, please include your full name as registered with the OAA to ensure your certificate of participation is credited properly. Please also include an email address you check frequently to ensure you receive our certificate in a timely manner.