Slow homes

It was only a matter of time before someone applied the Slow label to housing. Calgary, the biggest city in my home province of Alberta, is booming at the moment. A forest of cranes looms over the sky-line and the construction industry can’t build homes fast enough to meet demand. But in all the hurry, and with everyone focussed on turning a quick profit, corners are being cut. Much of the new housing is of the one-size-fits-all variety found across North America, complete with large carbon footprint and low-grade materials. Many new neighbourhoods have very little character. But now the fightback has begun. A local architect named John Brown has launched a Slow Homes movement. He wants Calgarians to invest more time and thought in the way their homes are built and their neighbourhoods assembled. He wants to replace the high-turnover, homogenized model of house-building with something that is not only more sustainable and aesthetically pleasing but that also promotes stronger communities. Something slower, in other words. Sounds very sensible and timely to me. To find out more, clickHERE.