The practice of designing housing projects considering only the needs of the construction phase and the first occupation of the dwellings often leads to difficulties and additional costs in adapting the house in order to fulfill changing user requirements. This article highlights the importance of including flexibility in terms of space, building materials and components in the design of social housing projects. The aim of the study is to propose a set of technical recommendations, based on the literature and on problems identified in practice, in order to allow easy and harmonious changes in dwellings in the course of its life cycle. The focus of this study is the typology of detached houses for single families. This study was based on the observation of a sample of houses from the state of Mato Grosso, between 2003 and 2006, and was divided into two phases. In the first phase, the changes and extensions made by the users were classified and analyzed in order to identify typical changes and the most common problems found in the extension of those houses. In the second phase, the study proposed some technical recommendations, which were connected to a set of flexibility strategies and principles that promote adaptability in house building. The study also aimed to reflect on existing design and production practices in social housing projects in Brazil, emphasizing the importance of the concept of adaptable housing, and suggest greater openness to new designs that allow a stronger appropriation of the dwelling by the users.
Low-incoming housing; Housing design; Adaptable houses; Architectural flexibility; Construction systems; Adaptability
