Nimble Spaces – Inclusive Neighbourhoods is a community-led housing pilot project with planning permission for 25 homes on three sites in the town of Callan, Co. Kilkenny.

Drawing on the principles of cohousing and social inclusion, Nimble Spaces aims to develop neighbourhoods with additional shared spaces, both indoors and outdoors, to create an environment both physical and social of mutual interest, interaction and informal support.

The project developed in distinct stages. From 2012-15 an arts-led research project enabled people with a disability to creatively explore, together with people interested in co-housing, their sense of “home”. LiD Architecture led a co-design process to realise the architectural ambitions of the project, and a group interested to be ‘constructive neighbours’ set up as Lionra Co-Housing. In 2017 planning permission was granted to Camphill Communities of Ireland AHB and Lionra Co-Housing to develop 25 homes on four sites in Callan.

In 2021, the social housing element of the project is now led by Tuath Housing as a Turnkey/CAS initiative with Lionra Co-Housing promoting the co-op housing element in collaboration with Ó Cualann CoHousing Alliance and supported by a new Community Land Trust.

Nimble Spaces was part of a 12-month multi-stakeholder research project, led by SOA to inform and support the establishment of a Community-Led Housing (CLH) infrastructure in Ireland.

In the news:

Irish Times / 31/07/21 Ireland needs to fully embrace community-led housing

Kilkenny People / 04/06/21 Callan community-led housing is ‘citizenship at its best’

RTE / 03/12/18 Nimble Spaces – a creative take on social housing