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Mel Reynolds

@maoiliosarey.bsky.social
448 followers 141 following 694 posts

Architect, Project Manager, Conservation Architect, Certified Passive House Designer "Do less, better”

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Mel Reynolds @maoiliosarey.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
A climate nightmare lurks in the Atlantic. Europe is starting to pay attention. – POLITICO www.politico.eu/article/clim...
politico.eu
A climate nightmare lurks in the Atlantic. Europe is starting to pay attention.
A slowdown of ocean currents that would disrupt life on the continent on an unthinkable scale.
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Mel Reynolds @maoiliosarey.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Bray av. €556k per unit sales price (via Business Post)
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Mel Reynolds @maoiliosarey.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Interesting figures, retail park -37% in value in 8 years, residential portfolio +10% in 6 years (via Business Post)
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Mel Reynolds @maoiliosarey.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
“Why did new homes stop getting bigger?” open.substack.com/pub/homeecon...
open.substack.com
Why Did New Homes Stop Getting Bigger?
New houses grew for forty years, then began shrinking in 2015
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Mel Reynolds @maoiliosarey.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
“State housing policy criticised as 'economically reckless and heartless'” www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-41...
irishexaminer.com
State housing policy criticised as 'economically reckless and heartless'
Group calls for the provision of multi-annual, ring-fenced funding towards carers of adults with intellectual disabilities in Budget 2027
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Reposted by Mel Reynolds
MoMA Paintings and Sculpture @moma.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Donald Judd, Untitled, 1967 botfrens.com/collections/14377/cont…
Gift of Philip Johnson
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Mel Reynolds @maoiliosarey.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Up, up and away? “Ires receives €726.7m proposal from Barings International” www.irishtimes.com/business/202...
irishtimes.com
Ires receives €726.7m proposal from Barings International
Board of Dublin-listed property firm ‘minded to recommend’ deal if formal offer emerges
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Mel Reynolds @maoiliosarey.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Good read “Irish people don’t want to live in ‘mostly awful’ apartments. Here’s five ways to fix them” www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2026...
irishtimes.com
Lorcan Sirr: Irish people don’t want to live in ‘mostly awful’ apartments. Here are 5 ways to fix them
Apartment living was historically seen as ‘unnatural’ in Ireland. But attitudes won’t change until standards do
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Mel Reynolds @maoiliosarey.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Summer in USA goes out with a heat dome science.nasa.gov/earth/earth-...
science.nasa.gov
Summer Goes Out With a Heat Dome - NASA Science
Temperature records toppled across the central and southern U.S. as the autumnal equinox approached.
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Mel Reynolds @maoiliosarey.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Interesting (below replacement) figures here for large existing tenanted apartment schemes being sold at present in today’s Business Post
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Mel Reynolds @maoiliosarey.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Avison Young loses £8.7m battle over Buckingham overpayments | Construction Enquirer News www.constructionenquirer.com/2026/09/16/a...
constructionenquirer.com
Avison Young loses £8.7m battle over Buckingham overpayments
Court enforces damages award after inflated progress claims on Coventry earthworks job
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Mel Reynolds @maoiliosarey.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Interesting figures, apartment prices outpacing general inflation- state demand for turnkey apartments may be driving this sector “Property Price Index July 2026 - Central Statistics Office” www.cso.ie/en/releasesa...
cso.ie
Residential Property Price Index July 2026 - Central Statistics Office
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Mel Reynolds @maoiliosarey.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
“In the city centre, 97 per cent of permitted schemes are apartments, and they’re hard to make work. Around 50 per cent of schemes aren’t starting” (Irish Times)
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Mel Reynolds @maoiliosarey.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Stamp duty cut- token gesture or helpful? x.com/irishtimes/s...
x.com
The Irish Times (@IrishTimes) on X
Stamp duty cut: Would it really help first-time buyers or drive up house prices yet again? https://t.co/OILdp4eirw
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Mel Reynolds @maoiliosarey.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
@cameronmurray.bsky.social I just worked out housing burden for a typical household in Ireland in 1962- it was 19.3% (similar to 2017 typical buyer)
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Mel Reynolds @maoiliosarey.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Frank McDonald was Dublin’s greatest champion www.irishtimes.com/opinion/lett...
irishtimes.com
Frank McDonald was Dublin’s greatest champion
Former Irish Times environment editor was in many ways the living embodiment of the capital
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Reposted by Mel Reynolds
Stephen O’Shea @architectgp.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
I know I/we need to do these things, but
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Reposted by Mel Reynolds
Orla Hegarty @orla-hegarty.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
🎧 Lovely episode with the late Frank McDonald today on @3castlesburning.bsky.social threecastlesburning.libsyn.com
threecastlesburning.libsyn.com
Three Castles Burning
Three Castles Burning is a social history podcast, dedicated to the story of the Irish capital. Dublin is a city of many stories, Three Castles Burning tells some of the more forgotten ones.
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Mel Reynolds @maoiliosarey.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Glacial pace of defects remediation scheme with just 4 out of 293 scheme applications issued with funding agreements (via Independent)
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Mel Reynolds @maoiliosarey.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
“It’s estimated that if 20 per cent of Italy’s railways, or roughly 3,000km of track, were used for solar installations like these, it would add up to a gigawatt of generating capacity, enough to power up to one million homes” www.irishtimes.com/world/us/202...
irishtimes.com
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Mel Reynolds @maoiliosarey.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
Good read about house prices and rents in Austin Texas open.substack.com/pub/homeecon...
open.substack.com
Why did Home Prices and Rents Fall in Austin?
It’s the housing cycle, not housing policy
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Mel Reynolds @maoiliosarey.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
Thought provking read
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Mel Reynolds @maoiliosarey.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
Wealth and inequality driven by house ownership “RTÉ News: Net wealth of households hits record high in first quarter - Central Bank” www.rte.ie/news/busines...
rte.ie
Net wealth of households hits record high - Central Bank
Irish household wealth has hit record levels again, but that growth may be coming to an end and inequality remains very high, according to a new Central Bank report.
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Mel Reynolds @maoiliosarey.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
"We wanted the houses to look like typical Swedish homes.. familiar architecture and details, but at an unusual scale that makes the absurdity of the situation immediately clear." x.com/dezeen/statu...
x.com
Dezeen (@dezeen) on X
Riksbyggen creates Sweden's smallest apartments to "make the housing crisis tangible" :https://t.co/LbahqcfzHw
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Mel Reynolds @maoiliosarey.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Sutton PRS 140 unit residential scheme changes hands with a -10.7% loss in 3 years (Business Post)
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Mel Reynolds @maoiliosarey.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
“New data from the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland (SCSI) tender price index showed commercial construction prices increased by 3 per cent in the first half of 2026” Irish Times
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Mel Reynolds @maoiliosarey.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
Almost 60% (46k) of all dwellings with planning permission have yet to commence in Dublin (Irish Times)
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Mel Reynolds @maoiliosarey.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
Excellent development “Solar farm big enough to power 25,000 homes planned for fields in north county Dublin” www.dublininquirer.com/solar-farm-b...
dublininquirer.com
Solar farm big enough to power 25,000 homes planned for fields in north county Dublin
The roll-out of renewable energy generation is needs to be accelerated to hit Climate Action Plan targets, according to a report from the Climate Change Advisory Council.
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Mel Reynolds @maoiliosarey.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
Systemic risk in housing sector due to high reliance on state supports highlighted in today’s Business Post editorial
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Mel Reynolds @maoiliosarey.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
"It feels like you have air-conditioning [inside the house] but you haven't. This is the beauty of the Passivhaus standard..” www.bbc.com/news/article...
bbc.com
Could these alternative homes be the future in a hotter Britain?
The Passivhaus standard is growing in popularity as UK homeowners adapt to hotter summer temperatures.
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Mel Reynolds @maoiliosarey.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
The pace of house price rises has softened to 5.6% due to uncertainty and interest rates, now doubling every 13 years (via Irish Times).
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Mel Reynolds @maoiliosarey.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
What a great mural in France
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Mel Reynolds @maoiliosarey.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
Good read “With three teenagers in the 1990s, we were emitting 16 tonnes of carbon dioxide a year.. improvements in 2010 reduced that to 10 tonnes. After our retrofit, our carbon emissions over the last year dropped to two tonnes.. next.. an electric car.” Via Irish Times
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Mel Reynolds @maoiliosarey.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
“..enough wind energy to power 667,000 homes was lost in the first six months of this year due to a lack of storage.. Fossil fuels accounted for 79.2 per cent of Ireland’s total energy requirements in 2025, of which 78.2 per cent was imported, one of the highest rates in the EU.” @irishtimes.com
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Mel Reynolds @maoiliosarey.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
“Since 2013, 46 tax measures have been introduced in housing, alongside other rebates, funding and grants.. costing about €12 billion (or the equivalent of about 34,000 new social and affordable houses) per annum” @irishtimes.com
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Mel Reynolds @maoiliosarey.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
3 minute interview about iconic modern house (1967).. relevant to today youtu.be/SYa3Fsx-4cU
youtu.be
Richard Rogers interview: Wimbledon house | Architecture | Dezeen
YouTube video by Dezeen
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Mel Reynolds @maoiliosarey.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
Big numbers here, finance cost boils down to €404k per dwelling (via business post)
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Mel Reynolds @maoiliosarey.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
Different country similar narratives “Accessibility, energy efficiency and basic liveability are not luxuries. They are the minimum standards people should be able to expect from their homes,” via The Guardian www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
theguardian.com
Bragg says lower-income earners should accept substandard housing as colleagues rebuke his migration target
Angus Taylor cautions NSW senator for diverging from policy in National Press Club speech as Nationals warn against changes to working holiday visas
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Mel Reynolds @maoiliosarey.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
Excellent inititiative @visualartistsirl.bsky.social
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Mel Reynolds @maoiliosarey.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
Construction industry improves from negative last month (Irish Times)
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Mel Reynolds @maoiliosarey.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
Good letter “Rather than blaming residents for raising legitimate concerns, we should demand that the State gets the planning right” People can support more homes while having concerns about how Dunsink will function www.irishtimes.com/opinion/lett...
irishtimes.com
People can support more homes while having concerns about how Dunsink will function
Rather than blaming residents for raising legitimate concerns, we should demand that the State gets the planning right
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Mel Reynolds @maoiliosarey.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
Interesting read on integrated design in Vienna and how it informs building layouts (and heights) via Irish Times
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Mel Reynolds @maoiliosarey.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
Good read “..the need to “do something” about the ageing crisis should be carefully scrutinised, because there is no such thing” @cameronmurray.bsky.social open.substack.com/pub/fresheco...
open.substack.com
The ageing "crisis" has not and will not happen
People simply assume an older population means more economic dependants. But the data shows falling economic dependency despite rising age dependency.
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Mel Reynolds @maoiliosarey.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
Front page article outlining extent of Irish State spending on housing in today’s Business Post
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Mel Reynolds @maoiliosarey.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
In the north inner-city, tenants of 15 years evicted so council can buy their home www.dublininquirer.com/in-the-north...
dublininquirer.com
In the north inner-city, tenants of 15 years evicted so council can buy their home
Dublin City Council is buying 40 homes in the Northbank apartments. It is not clear how many tenants have been evicted for the deal to proceed.
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Mel Reynolds @maoiliosarey.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
Good read “Incentives, once introduced, are very hard to remove and all too often, the law of unintended consequences comes into play” www.irishtimes.com/your-money/2...
irishtimes.com
There have been 46 tax interventions in Irish housing market since 2013. They haven’t fixed it
Housing incentives like Help-to-Buy, once introduced, are very hard to remove and all too often, the law of unintended consequences comes into play
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Mel Reynolds @maoiliosarey.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
phys.org/news/2026-08...
phys.org
Melting sea ice combines with Arctic sea to make clouds
Scientists have uncovered a previously unknown natural process that dramatically increases the number of cloud-forming particles in the Arctic atmosphere—potentially altering cloud cover, sunlight ref...
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Mel Reynolds @maoiliosarey.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
Auxiliary garden dwellings involve more than just planning- comments in today’s Irish Times
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Mel Reynolds @maoiliosarey.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
Govt need to move faster “Delays are also reported in the installation of electric vehicle charging points at sports clubs; 225 were to be installed at 131 clubs by the end of last year. The report indicates one site is live”
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Mel Reynolds @maoiliosarey.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
Dublin City Council increasing costs and adding to house-building inflation (via SBP)
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