Dermot Bannon: From the housing crisis to reimagining our living spaces 

Dermot Bannon: 'Education is a right in this country, healthcare is a right in this country. I really don’t see why housing isn’t further up there'.

We've all been busily reimagining our spaces throughout the past year.

As we come through the pandemic, the home has become the focal point of our lives, now more than ever.

Both our creative use of space during Covid-19 times and the wider housing crisis were addressed by Dermot Bannon recently.

The architect travelled throughout the country meeting the people who have designed, renovated, and rebuilt the spaces around them during the pandemic.

The result is Dermot Bannon’s Super Small Spaces, a two-part series that starts on RTÉ One on June 6.

Dermot Bannon in Sarah Lafferty's home on Dermot Bannon's Small Spaces.

But as well as the creativity he encountered on this odyssey, the architect also addressed the housing crisis.

Speaking on The Late Late Show recently, he noted there was “nothing sustainable” about Ireland’s housing market.

“It was the biggest thing on everybody’s tongue in the election, which was just before Covid. It was ‘housing, housing, housing’. Covid hit, and it didn’t go away. It’s still a huge problem,” he said.

“It’s still a massive issue for everybody. From people trying to buy homes, to homelessness — it’s there. And we do need to tackle it, and we need to tackle it head-on now.”

He added: “We need to build so many units per year — we’re not building them. There’s a backlog.

“So once that happens, if you don’t build enough units in one year, you’ve got that deficit the following year, and the following year, and the following year.

“And that’s been happening now for the last ten years.

“We have a huge deficit. And our population is growing. And it is just down to that. If we had more homes, there wouldn’t be as much pressure on the sale price of every home. There wouldn’t be as much pressure on the sale price of land. There wouldn’t be as much pressure on everything. We need to be building.”

He added: “Education is a right in this country, healthcare is a right in this country. I really don’t see why housing isn’t further up there.”

He added: “There are people who bought 15 years ago who are in huge negative equity still. It seems to be a problem for every single generation, and it kind of goes in peaks and troughs, and there’s nothing sustainable about it.”

Back to the upcoming series: During lockdown, many of us have been forced to look at the spaces we live in, regardless of size, from a fresh perspective — for some, that meant relocating to another area, for others that meant reconfiguring their entire property.

In the new series, Dermot Bannon introduces viewers to people who have brought their dreams to life.

Dermot Bannon and Sarah Lafferty.

Like the Purcells in Louth, who are building a beach hut, with full beach attached, or

the McCarthy siblings in Cork, who bought an old double-decker bus to convert it into accommodation. 

While some of us “dabbled” in a bit of DIY during lockdown, it’s fair to say Irish craftsman Garvan de Bruir has taken that passion to a whole new level with his incredibly unique self-build in county Kildare. 

Styled on old timber airplanes the arch shape is as much about aesthetic as it is about functionality.

They say out of every crisis comes an opportunity. Back in 2005, interior designer Sarah Lafferty experienced a devastating fire at her home where she lost the majority of her belongings and home. 

After extensive renovations, Sarah now lives a more minimalist life, which is reflected in the way she has designed her small Victorian terraced red-brick cottage.

In 2020, Thomas McCarthy lost his father to suicide during lockdown. He and his siblings decided to buy an old double-decker bus and convert it into accommodation, in honour of their father.

In a more urban setting in Dublin, architect Paul Kelly and designer Deirdre Whelan teamed up with their neighbours and reconfigured their old mews in Rathmines from three separate houses into two.

This year, the pod became the new attic conversion. With thousands of people needing extra space to work, or to play their drums, the need for prefabricated spaces in back gardens soared. 

Dermot meets Sean and Joan Kennedy who commissioned AB Projects to build a music room, somewhere for them both to listen to their records.

In Kilrush Co. Clare, Dermot meets Paul Gleeson, who restored a beautiful old pub.

• Dermot Bannon’s Super Small Spaces, a two-part series, starts on RTÉ One this Sunday, June 6, at 9.30pm