The general trend to house construction during the 1980s will be to put more housing on less land, ac- cording to Maunce Clayton, semor architect at Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation This does not mean the single house on a big jot has had its day. Clayton points out that in some parts of the country there ts still a good supply of serviced lots al economic cost and enough people who can afford single family houses to assure a small, bul continuing market. Aside from the necessity to build to higher densities because of costs, a relentless fact which 1s) pushing us towards higher densities 1s the need to conserve energy Houses clustered together help shelter each other from cold) winds, says Clayton Common walls cut) down heat loss and onenting housing so that main living areas bask in winter sunlight can further reduce heating fuel consumption. Distnct heating plants are also being senously looked at these days. Obviously houses have to be clustered uf they are to be heated from a central source which ts solar-powered or fueled conventionally Clayton points to another aspect of the energy-saving potential of Ingher density housing — transportation. With more people con- centrated on less land, 1t becomes locate economical = to community facuihes and amenities close by “Practically all our communities since, say 1950, have been designed on the principle that the automobile would provide transportahon to the vanous amenitics people needed. especially the supermarket “We have to think about housing where there is access to public. tran- sportation and where people can walk to the store instead of dnving. The day of the supermarket is limited and there will be a return to more local, as well as corner stores,” he predicts While Clayton thinks ngher density hving will be forced upon us because of economic factors, he docs not see the sudden emergence of ant colony housing projects populated by teeming hordes of people For one thing, 80 per cent of the housing Canada 1s expected to need in the year 2000 already This means the housing landscape will look much as if today Medium density com munities with 25 to 75 units per hectare (10 to 30 units an acre) consisting of lowrise apartments, row, Ink, semi detached, court and stacking exists does More housing on less land housing can be designed to provide the most humane and marketable form of living at higher densities, says Clayton. “We've been building subdivisions of three- bedroom and four-bedroom houses without considering other people in the com- munity — semor cilizens or single people — who also need a place to hive. We should be mixing the housing types so that as families grow and contract people = can move to accommodate their necds but in the same community where they can retain with their fnends ” Clayton says contact Provision — of mixing the housing lypes, privacy, and energy cf ficrency are issues which will have to be resgived by ar chitects and builders dunng the next few years. parking, \ “tet OF Gaga veo! sband Of > C15-Sanday News, April 20, 1980 puVver George Robb Dave Jenneson Call us today. The Real Estate Showcase can put your home or your listings ‘on view’ across the whole North Shore When you want to advertise in the Real Estate Showcase, call us 980-0517 Omistons North Shore Free Press Lid “sunday news north shore news n the North S