Mauritius, as one of the best countries in Africa, deserves the finest housing. Since our independence, Mauritius built the finest hotels in the world and its first Light Rail connecting towns to towns. More recently, we noticed that due to rising costs in the construction industry, new housing has sacrificed space and quality to unit numbers. In 2013, the Catholic Church sent a ‘distress call’ to condemn the shoddy noddy boxes built by the National Housing Development Company (NHDC) between 2005 and 2012 that were pathetically small to be called decent homes. Mauritius needs to renew with its post-independence tradition of design excellence. The country will only flourish if the government invests in its people and gives homes people want to live in. The first step to making it a reality is by promoting excellence in design quality and sustainability.
In order to provide a decent home to each and every family in Mauritius, a space standard is required to deal with internal space within new dwellings. It should define public and private spaces and set out requirements for the Gross Internal (floor) Area of new dwellings at a defined level of occupancy as well as floor areas and dimensions for key parts of the home, notably bedrooms, storage and floor to ceiling height.
The standard would require that:
1.the design responds to its physical context, including the character and legibility of the area and the local pattern of building, public space, landscape and topography;
2.the scheme complements the local network of public spaces, including how it integrates with existing streets and paths;
3.public spaces and pedestrian routes are designed to be overlooked and safe, and extensive blank elevations onto the public realm at ground floor have been avoided;
4.development proposals demonstrate that they comply with the council’s outline planning scheme, ensuring that a review of surrounding open space is undertaken and that opportunities to address a deficiency in provision by providing new public open spaces are taken forward in the design process;
5.communal open space is provided, development proposals to demonstrate that the space is overlooked by surrounding development, is accessible to wheelchair users and other disabled people, is designed to take advantage of direct sunlight and has suitable management arrangements in place;
6.footpath links are provided to surrounding facilities;
7.soft and hard landscape design used to reinforce security and privacy to dwellings and support footpath links by preventing short cutting and erosion of edges;
8.direction signs be clearly visible and be fixed at a height where they are not easily defaced or damaged;
9.all principal private entrances to houses, ground floor flats and communal entrance lobbies to be visible from the public realm and clearly identified;
10.well used public areas to be adequately lit and dense planting of trees and bushes in close proximity to footpaths which might hinder visual security should be avoided;
11.the approach to all entrances to preferably be level or gently sloping. Principal entrances should have weather protection and a level external landing. A level external landing should have a minimum width and depth of 1200mm. The landing should be covered for a minimum width of 900mm and a minimum depth of 600mm;
12.all entrances to be illuminated and have level access over the threshold. Entrance doors should have 300mm of clear space to the pull side, and clear minimum opening widths of 850mm depending on the direction and width of approach;
13.all developments to conform to Planning Policy Guidance (PPG) on car parking provision. In areas of good public transport accessibility and/or town centres the aim should be to provide less than one space per dwelling;
14.individual or communal cycle storage outside the home should be secure, sheltered and adequately lit, with convenient access to the street;
15.communal refuse and recycling containers, communal bin enclosures and refuse stores to be accessible to all residents including children and wheelchair users, and located on a hard, level surface;
16.all developments to meet the following minimum space standards set out in Table 1 below
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Table 1 – Minimum gross internal floor areas
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17.dwelling plans to demonstrate that dwellings will accommodate the furniture, access and activity space requirements relating to the declared level of occupancy;
18.dwelling plans to demonstrate that dwelling types provide flexibility by allowing for alternative seating arrangements in living rooms and by accommodating double or twin beds in at least one double bedroom. Dwelling Plans should also be adaptable to extension of future rooms. Refer to Appendix 1 for space standards study;
19.the minimum width of hallways and other circulation spaces inside the home to be 900mm. Every door to have a minimum clear opening width of 800mm;
20.a minimum 1200mm clear space to be provided in front of and between all kitchen units and appliances;
21.at least one double bedroom (the principal bedroom) to provide a clear access zone a minimum 750mm wide to both sides and the foot of the bed;
22.the minimum width of the main sitting area to be 2.8m in 2-3 person dwellings and 3.2m in dwellings designed for four or more people;
23.there should be space for turning a wheelchair in dining areas and living rooms and basic circulation space for wheelchairs elsewhere;
24.a living room, living space or kitchen-dining room to be at entrance level;
25.windows in the principal living space to start 850mm above finished floor level (+/- 50mm) to allow people to see out while seated. At least one opening window should be easy to approach and operate by people with restricted movement and reach;
26.the minimum area of a single bedroom to be 8m2. The minimum area of a double or twin bedroom should be 12m2;
27.the minimum width of double and twin bedrooms should be 2.75m in most of the length of the room;
28.an accessible bathroom to be provided in every dwelling on the same storey as a main bedroom;
29.walls in bathrooms and WCs to be capable of taking adaptations such as handrails;
30.dwelling plans to demonstrate that all homes are provided with adequate space and services to be able to work from home;
31.switches and sockets, including door bells, entry phones, light switches, power sockets, TV aerials and telephone jacks, serving habitable rooms throughout the dwelling to have their centre line 450-1200mm above floor level and at least 300mm away from any internal room corner;
32.a minimum of 5m2 of private outdoor space to be provided for 1-2 person dwellings and an extra 1m2 be provided for each additional occupant;
33.the minimum floor to ceiling height in habitable rooms is 2.7m between finished floor level and finished ceiling level. A minimum floor to ceiling height of 2.7m in habitable rooms is considered desirable and taller ceiling heights are encouraged in ground floor dwellings;
34.glazing to all habitable rooms to be not less than 20% of the internal floor area of the room;
35.all homes to provide for direct sunlight to enter at least one habitable room for part of the day. Living areas and kitchen dining spaces preferably receive direct sunlight;
36.development proposals to demonstrate how the design of dwellings will avoid overheating during summer months without reliance on energy intensive mechanical cooling systems;
37.new dwellings to be designed to ensure that a maximum of 200 litres of water is accessible to per person per day;
38.where development is permitted in an area at risk of flooding, it should incorporate flood resilient design;
39.new development to adhere to standards for surface water run-off;
40.new development to incorporate rainwater harvesting systems and green roofs where appropriate;
41.dual flush toilet to be fitted in new dwellings;
42.new development to adopt solar water heating system to reduce energy consumption;
43.The design and layout of new residential development avoid areas of ecological value and seek to enhance the ecological capital of the area.
Appendix 1 – Space Standards Study
This study of dwelling sizes relative to designed occupancy levels is the basis of the minimum space standards (GIA). To develop the space standards, each type of room was planned around the furniture as per the Metric Handbook 2018 and activity and access requirements. The Gross Internal Area (GIA) is the cumulative total of room areas plus an allowance for circulation and partitions. All illustrative technical standards were developed by Sandeep Sewpal Architect, RIBA Chartered Practice.
References
The Case for Space: the size of England’s new homes, RIBA 2011
London Housing Design Guide, LDA 2010
Housing Design Brief, RIBA 1983
Housing Space Standards, HATC for the GLA, August 2006
Accommodating Diversity: Housing Design in a Multicultural Society, National Housing Federation 1998
Creating Excellent Buildings: A guide for clients, CABE, October 2003
Approved Document M: Access to and use of buildings, 2010