© Marc Detiffe

Architects: L’Escaut + Atelier Gigogne
Location: Brussels, Belgium
Project Year: 2010
Project Area: 3300 sqm (Renovation), 752 sqm (New construction), 177 sqm (Outside space)
Photographs: Marc Detiffe

 

Two Buildings-One Project

The brief of the competition, held in 2003, was to transform the building of the former Hallemans breweries into 31 housing units for artists, including an in-house workspace. On top of the transformation, a new construction was necessary to provide the needed surfaces. This new wing creates space and views the courtyard and the surroundings. To improve natural lighting, the upper part of the new building is withdrawn from the property limit, this allows nothern light to enter in the workshops.

© Marc Detiffe

Starting from each wing, a network of staircases and corridors, crossing the brewery and the courtyard, reaches each doorstep. This outdoor circulation provides the courtyard with a unique dynamic, and enables spontaneous meetings between inhabitants.

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A New Life for Industrial Inheritance

The project seeks to integrate as much as possible all the structural and architectural elements that are characteristic of the old brewery. On this inheritance background, the necessary interventions for contemporary living are clearly identified. They create a dialogue with the existing building without imitating it.

© Marc Detiffe

The new openings in the old walls are radical but necessary to create a part of the new façade after demolitions or to open the southern wall. They bring a maximum of light and create views. The old chimney is transformed into a barbecue to serve as a possible meeting place for the inhabitants. The new building is clearly different from the old brewery, both by its contemporary architecture as by its zinc facade.

© Marc Detiffe

A Neighborhood in Search of New Breath

The insertion of the project in its urban environment can be summarized in two words: openness and visual presence. Since the site is situated between two public spaces (a street and a square), both have an entrance to the building which makes a visual connection between the two spaces. The combination of the old and the new building, both higher than the industrial halls along the Canal, can be seen from the right bank of the Canal and participates in the skyline of Molenbeek.

Situation

Quality of Spaces/Economy of the Project

In a limited budgetary context (about 1100 €/m2), we wanted to insure the quality and durability of the building (big surfaces of the openings, aluminium frames, collective ventilation system and boiler room) while using the existing or new raw materials for their aesthetic qualities (apparent bricks, vaulted ceilings, concrete) and for their technical qualities (re-use of the existing bearing system, thermal inertia of the existing brick walls). The choice of standard sanitary and technical units (bathroom and kitchen) follows the same line of thought. 19 of the 31 units are interlocking duplexes, which permits privatizing the apartments by detaching one of the floors from the circulation core (which is then reduced). The sanitary blocks are concentrated in compact modules, gathered around a minimum number of vertical sleeves. Except for the bathrooms, the apartments are delivered without internal partitions, allowing maximum flexibility for the users.

© Marc Detiffe

Resulting from a competition launched by the Woningfonds of the Brussels-Capital Region, the housing units/studios for artists participate in the urban morphology of the Canal surroundings. After two years of works, the first inhabitants are now ready to move in. With the spatial and economical challenges of the architecture fulfilled, it is now time for other challenges: the management of public housing with an artistic dimension and its integration in the social context of the Molenbeek district.

© Marc Detiffe

Sustainable Town House, Courtesy of C.F. Møller Architects

Sustainable housing comes in all shapes and sizes, and by 2020 California hopes that all of its new housing projects will benefit from net-zero energy consumption.  But what exactly makes a home sustainable? Sustainability practices include materials, passive heating and cooling systems, energy harvesting, recycling, construction techniques and many other systems and technologies that are being developed everyday.

With so much continual innovation, California’s goal of making all new housing so energy efficient that it consumes no energy at all is foreseeable.  While many agree that this, in fact, is the most responsible and intelligent approach to our increased energy consumption, developers and builders are divided over the potential financial hurdles that crop up from such a goal.

Follow us after the break for more information and images of sustainable housing projects.

 

Kerchum Residence, Courtesy of Frits de Vries Architect

Sustainable Residence, Courtesy of Studio 804

The groups responsible for establishing this goal are California Energy Commission and the California Public Utilities Commission who derive the authority to prepare such a goal under the Global Warming Solutions Act, better known as AB32, which requires that the state reduce its greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020. Jeanne Clinton, writer of the plan and branch manager of the energy division at the PUC, said that it is important to make the goals known to the marketplace to make sure that everyone is doing their part.  Panama Bartholomy, deputy director for efficiency and renewable energy for the Energy Commission, remarks that this strategy for making home-builders and home-owners individually responsible is more economic than building new infrastructure to accommodate our growing energy needs.

Green Concept Home, Courtesy of Modus V Studio Architects

Social Housing Tower Of 75 Units In Europa Square, © Jordi Surroca

Approaching that goal will require cooperation between various agencies that may require federal and state mandates, incentives, subsidies and agency-funded research. Currently, the California Energy Commission comes out with a new set of standards every three years, so presumably by 2020 it will have determined a mandate for net-zero energy. Over the course of the next nine years, builders and buyers will be able to transition into the new requirements and upfront expenses.

60 Richmond Housing Cooperative Courtesy of Teeple Architects

Builders are also hopeful that by 2020, prices of homes will have gone down enough to cover the initial additional expenses of building energy-efficient homes, which contractors estimate is an additional $25,000 – $50,000. With this in mind, although retrofitting already built homes will be difficult, new homes stand a chance in meeting future energy guidelines that promise to produce technologically and aesthetically innovative architecture by 2020.
(Via North County Times)

Courtesy of Emre Arolat Architects

Architect: Emre Arolat Architects
Location: Ceşme-izmir, Turkey
Concept-preliminary Project: Emre Arolat, Gani Turunç
Final Project: Sezer Bahtiyar
Construction Project: Gonca Paşolar, Sezer Bahtiyar
Project Team: Zeki Samer, Mürüvvet Gülcan Sahin, Nesime Onel, Gözde Sazak, Tayfun Aksoy, Gülin Derman, Olcay Ozten, Ufuk Berberoğlu, Murat Sahin, Serkan Duman
Client: Carmıklı, Kalyoncu, Tamtex
Construction: Carmıklı Yapı
Structural: Balkar
Mechanical: Ihsan Akçay
Interior Design: Dara Kırmızıtoprak
Project Year: 2008
Project Area: 15,734 sqm
Photographs: Courtesy of Emre Arolat Architects

 

 

Courtesy of Emre Arolat Architects

From a lovely seaside town to pompous a holiday village…Çeşme has reached a multiply increasing summer population with touristy motivation of the last decade. This unpredictable growth, like all lately explored villages of Mediterranean and Aegean region, makes an inevitable transformation both sociologically and physically in Çeşme. The Çeşme 7800 project was developed throughout a design tendency which is posed problematic on the new identities and mass that grew out of this new situation, in the context of the effect on the existing structure.

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Main mass has been made closer to the border of the road. So that the frontal large beach and the natural environment has left as is exists as possible. The linear block of 5 stories, has been transformed double sided by an internal street on which both vertical and horizontal circulation is organized. Instead of being self-centralized and prominent by visual structural form, attractive and awaiting to gain its power by this kind of attention, what is aimed in the project is a kind of structure that tends to hide behind the landscape layer which covers it and by this way choose to get rid of all the burden of concepts that might be defined as style, taste and genre of architecture.

Courtesy of Emre Arolat Architects

Two different blind systems were designed in order to prevent the north and the south facades that constitute the units’ point of view, from sunlight and wind. Both of these systems, which are made as simplified as possible, became the most important elements of the exterior perception.

Courtesy of Emre Arolat Architects

The units that located gradually on top of each other in the section create large garden terraces on both sides. The idea of making the building insignificance by the landscape layer which will be located on these gardens was considered on all stages as the main concern of the project. Instead of a conventional planning tendency on the interiors of the units, a quite transparent and flowing space planning was thought.

Courtesy of Emre Arolat Architects

Beside the social areas, there located a single story chain of units on the area between main mass and beach. All structural elements in this area are also covered with a regular landscape layer.

Courtesy of Emre Arolat Architects

Courtesy of Emre Arolat Architects

© Youngchea PARK

Architects: Hyungnam LIM, Eunjoo ROH, Studio GAON
Locations: Chungcheongnam-do, Korea
Project Year: 2011
Project Area: 75.6 sqm
Photographs: Youngchea PARK

 

This house sits on a hill facing Jinaksan on the outskirts of South Korea’s Geumsan, Chungcheongnam-do. South of the project site stands houses on modest hills and to the north towers Jinaksan, which frames a lake in the distance. The wind escapes from the valley and blows across the land, passing through the hills.

© Youngchea PARK

From the semi-open space of 26 square meters in this simple house of 43 square meters, the mountains seem close enough to touch, and a simple path winds its way below as part of an unobstructed view of a majestic landscape. Clearing the land at the front of the house, we’ve formed a garden and created showers and a deck for outdoor entertainment. This house is designed for its owner, his books, his students, and his fellow teachers, and it is designed to simultaneously reflect Western wooden structure and embrace the space of Korean traditional architecture.

© Youngchea PARK

In the twenty-some years since we’ve worked for architecture, we have struggled to understand the essence of Korean architecture. The element of Korean architecture that distinguishes it from Japanese or Chinese architecture is, without a doubt, the fact that, in Korean architecture, space moves and flows; that is, a space in Korean architecture is not one frozen frame, but rather, different spaces that interact and change. The rooms of this house follow that flow with ease, and both light and wind leave traces of their presence.

Elevation

The land on which this house now stands brought to mind a house called Do-San Seodang, which belonged to a philosopher of the 15th century by the name of Yi Hwang, and so we suggested a house of a style that reflected his to the clients. Although Do-San Seodang is small, simple, and linear, its design is conceptually rich. Yi Hwang embraced a theory called Gyung(敬), which called for humility in oneself and respect for others, as well as a simple, practical, and rational lifestyle. Do-San Seodang is Yi Hwang as the present, the books that formed and supported him as the past, and the students that carry on his teachings as the future. And it is beautiful.

© Youngchea PARK

A small and simple house that holds the universe… Just hearing these words makes my heart race. The house we dream of is not one that is large or grand enough to be seen from the moon; rather, it is one full of intent. Do-San Seodang is a creation that we as architects dream of and aspire to emulate.

© Youngchea PARK

Most of us obsess over owning a house, and we obsess over the size of that house. Modern-day houses have grown larger and larger, and their occupants, too, are accumulating more and more material wealth, reducing available space and forcing expansion. People typically are born into small bodies and return to an even smaller final resting place. Why, then, do we desire houses that are too big for us? Our possessions swell to an unnecessary magnitude, and in the end we are burdened by their weight. We are neither kings nor gods, nor are we aliens. Like clothing that does not fit, houses that do not fit their owners appear unnatural. Where do we draw the line between too small and too large? People believe that if their houses grow as their life progresses, they have achieved success. An extravagant house, however, does not guarantee happiness or satisfaction.

Plan

The client wanted a small and simple house in which he could spend his remaining years with his wife, and the arrangement of the bedroom and guest room, a minimal kitchen and bathroom, and the attic-turned-study in this house strongly resembles the layout of Do-San Seodang. Coincidentally, he parallels Yi Hwang not only in that he is a scholar, but also in that he is now the same age as the philosopher was when he began to build his Do-San Seodang. This house is the past and the present and the future, and it will become a space that exists in harmony with both nature and the client’s students.

Elevations and Sections

Courtesy of Zon-e Arquitectos

Architects: Zon-e Arquitectos / Nacho Ruiz Allén, José Antonio Ruiz Esquiroz
Location: Asturias, Spain
Project Area: 2,385 sqm
Photographs: Ignacio Martinez and Jose Antonio Ruiz

   

 

The purpose of the project was to design and build state subsidized housing in Cerredo (Asturias), a mining town located in the very heart of the Cantabrian Mountains, where no residential construction had been made for over 25 years.

Courtesy of Zon-e Arquitectos

The project had two stages that materialized in two perpendicular buildings forming an L shape. In the first stage we undertook the biggest building, which faces the road that crosses the town.

Plans

The volumetric we propose has an angular shape. It is a geometry crystallized from some elementary laws that are given by the town-planning regulations. The formal result is something halfway between a petrified object, a mountain’s shape and a disturbing organism floating over the mountainside.

Courtesy of Zon-e Arquitectos

This “crystallographic” object has the same dark color as the local slate. Like a piece of coal, it absorbs almost all the light it gets and reflects a small amount of it, calmly showing us its rich geometry.

Courtesy of Zon-e Arquitectos

The building’s unity contrasts with the individuality of each of the 15 apartments that show through some galleries in the facade. These are cubes which drill the volume using a herringbone pattern and work as heat and light exchangers.

Façades

Each of the apartments is different in size, floor plan distribution, location of its gallery and in its roof’s configuration. All of them enjoy cross ventilation and breathtaking views of Asturias’ craggy landscape.

Model

The project’s nature as object is emphasized by the way the ground floor is approached: this has been set back along its perimeter, reinforcing the idea of a “floating body.”

Courtesy of Zon-e Arquitectos

                              

Social Housing for Mine Workers / Zon-e Arquitectos originally appeared on ArchDaily, the most visited architecture website on 31 Jul 2011.

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추가 정보…

© Peter Cook

Architects: Cowper Griffith Architects
Location: Cambridge, United Kingdom
Design Team: Ramboll UK, Max Fordham LLP, Gardiner & Theobald
Contractor: Kier Marriott
Project Year: 2010
Photographs: Peter Cook

The Salje building at Clare Hall in Cambridge is named after the former college president Eckhard Salje, who spent a significant amount of his presidency travelling the Far East and raising funds for an ‘International Study and Research Centre’. The new Salje building provides accommodation for visiting fellows from South Korean, Japanese and Chinese Universities, who contributed to the fundraising, for this new college accommodation.

 

In order to minimize impact on the flood plain of the nearby Bin Brook, the building is designed to be as compact as possible. The building is the first on the site to have three stories and is split in two halves, creating a central atrium for circulation. The eastern half is slightly off-set and skewed towards Bin Brook. The intention here is to break the formality of the existing West Court buildings around the courtyard and respond to the more arcadian nature of the mature trees on the floodplain.

Situation

The materials of the building also seek to acknowledge this difference in aspect. The courtyard elevation is calm and simple with a regular pattern of crisp aluminium and glass window boxes piercing through the textured brickwork. This western half of the building houses 13 graduate rooms and the eastern half houses 5 fellows’ flats and student common room, each with a balcony overlooking Bin Brook. Here, the materials change to zinc and western red cedar. The materials animate the building’s form along this elevation, which has a more complex arrangement and detailing.

© Peter Cook

Similar materials are used internally. White textured brick wall wraps around the main eastern block volume and expresses itself through one side of the atrium. The concrete frame is exposed as the ceiling soffit in all rooms, where it also plays a key role in the natural ventilation and cooling of the building. Elsewhere, white plastered walls give a sense of light and space, and timber floors add warmth.

© Peter Cook

Student rooms by their nature, have to be well ventilated. Above each student room door is located a custom made, acoustically lined, air transfer unit with egg-crate grilles to each side. Inside the unit is a shutter, which is electronically controlled by the occupant. The unit allows for natural purge ventilation of the bedrooms when the shutter is open. Through trickle vents or by opening the window shutters a cross-ventilation through the room into the atrium is created. The atrium ventilation employs a pressure and temperature driven stack effect natural ventilation, via controlled openings in 3 roof cowls operated by a building management system. Fresh air is drawn into bedrooms via the de-pressurisation effect of the en-suite mechanical extract system. Mechanical ventilation is only specified for bathrooms and kitchens where absolutely necessary to meet the requirements of the Building Regulations.

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© Duccio Malagamba

Architects: Coop Himmelb(l)au
Location: Hainburg, Austria
Design Principal: Wolf D. Prix
Project Architect: Martin Mostböck
Design Architect: Sophie-Charlotte Grell
Project Team: Steven Baites, Daniel Bolojan, Victoria Coaloa, Volker Kilian, Martin Neumann, Martin Jelinek
Site Area: 420 sqm
Project Area: 289 sqm
Project Year: 2011
Photographs: Duccio Malagamba

 

Client: Association “Freunde der Evangelischen Kirche in Hainburg/Donau”, Austria
User: Evangelische Pfarrgemeinde A.B. Bruck a.d. Leitha – Hainburg/Donau, Austria
Structural engineering: Bollinger Grohmann Schneider ZT GmbH, Vienna, Austria
Construction survey: Spirk & Partner ZT GmbH, Vienna, Austria
Main works / finishing: Markus Haderer Baubetrieb Ges.m.b.H, Hainburg/Donau, Austria
Steel construction (roof/ tower): OSTSEESTAAL GmbH, Stralsund, Germany
Steel Construction (façade): Metallbau Eybel, Wolfsthal, Austria
Fibre cement cladding: Eternit-Werke Ludwig Hatschek AG, Vöcklabruck, Österreich; SFK GmbH, Kirchham, Austria
Altar: Idee & Design, Stainz, Austria

geometry diagram

Architectural Concept

In less than a year a protestant church together with a sanctuary, a church hall and supplementary spaces was built in the centre of the Lower Austrian town Hainburg, at the site of a predecessor church that doesn’t exist anymore since the 17th century.
The shape of the building is derived from that of a huge “table”, with its entire roof construction resting on the legs of the “table” – four steel columns. Another key element is the ceiling of the prayer room: its design language has been developed from the shape of the curved roof of a neighboring Romanesque ossuary – the geometry of this century-old building is translated into a form, in line with the times, via today’s digital instruments.

The play with light and transparency has a special place in this project. The light comes from above: three large winding openings in the roof guide it into the interior. The correlation of the number Three to the concept of Trinity in the Christian theology can be interpreted as a “deliberate coincidence”.

© Duccio Malagamba

The church interior itself is not only a place of mysticism and quietude – as an antithesis of our rather fast and media-dominated times – but also an open space for the community.

The sanctuary gives access to the glass-covered children’s corner, illuminated by daylight, which accomodates also the baptistery. The actual community hall is situated behind it: folding doors on the entire length of the space between the two main chambers allow for combining them to one continuous spatial sequence. An folded glass façade on the opposite side opens the space towards the street.

section 02

A third building element, a longitudinal slab building along a small side alley, flanks both main spaces and comprises the sacristy, the pastor’s office, a small kitchen and other ancillary rooms. A handicapped accessible ramp between the three building components accesses the church garden on higher ground.

The sculptural bell tower at the forecourt constitutes the fourth element of the building ensemble.

Like other projects of COOP HIMMELB(L)AU the roof elements of the church building were assembled in a shipyard. The implementation of the intricate geometries required specific technologies of metal-processing and manufacturing only available in shipbuilding industry. The reference to shipbuilding is at the same time also reminiscent of Le Corbusier who served as an important role model, not least because of his La Tourette monastery.

section 01

Technical Description

Due to its shape with three skylights the roof of the Martin Luther Church in Hainburg was designed as a self-supporting steel construction with a stucco ceiling. The structure was assembled in a wharf at the Baltic Sea. The exterior skin is made of 8 mm thick three-dimensionally curved steel plates welded on a frame construction. In turn, this structure of steel plates and frame sits on a girder grid. The compound of grid, frame and steel skin transfers the total load of the roof (23 tons) on four steel columns which are based on the solid concrete walls of the prayer room.

The roof construction was delivered in four separate parts to Hainburg, assembled and welded on site. There, the coating of the whole structure was finished and mounted with a crane in the designated position on the shell construction of the prayer room.

© Duccio Malagamba

On the interior ceiling the suspended frame structure was covered in several layers of steel fabric and rush matting as carrier layer for the cladding of the stucco ceiling, whose geometry follows the three-dimensionally curved shape of the roof with the skylights.

The free-form bell tower of the Martin Luther Church was also manufactured, by means of shipbuilding technology, as a vertical self-supporting steel structure with wall thickness between 8 and 16 millimeter, only braced by horizontal frames. The 20 meter high tower weighing 8 tons is welded rigidly to a steel element encased in the concrete foundations.

© Lukas Schaller

The original concept of the building was to combine the advantages of single residential homes with the economical aspects of `apartment living´. Over the last centuries the concept of single residential family houses changed enormously. Different approaches and reinterpretations changed not only the way that people live but also the way they use their own spaces. Atelier Thomas Pucherand Bramberger [architects]‘s proposal was to combine the advantages of privacy, outdoor gardens, and boundless views that a single residential home offers with the low economic and maintenance costs of an apartment.

Architect:Atelier Thomas Pucher andBramberger [architects]
Location: Tartu, Estonia
Project Area: 3,500 sqm
Renderings: Martin Mathy
Project Year: 2008
Photographs: Lukas Schaller, Jaan Sokk

 

© Lukas Schaller

The challenging question: Is it possible to combine the two? Atelier Thomas Pucher and Bramberger [architects]‘s solution was to create `Stacked Villas´ by superimposing Villas or Penthouses on top of each other. This would maintain the major advantages such as wide boundless views, private outdoor spaces and generous living areas on the one hand as well as the economical advantages of less building and maintenance costs which would subsequently have less impact on the environment.

© Jaan Sokk

Reacting to the original urban design in the surrounding area, Atelier Thomas Pucher and Bramberger [architects] designed two different types of buildings: River Towers and City Slabs.

site

The concept behind the River Towers is clear and simple: organizing spaces according to their main functions and distributing between two big rings: the service ring and the living area ring. The most inner ring organizes the service functions, were one can find the entrance to the apartments, wardrobes, bathroom, sauna areas and in most cases the kitchen area. All infrastructural elements are located in this area, providing economical advantages by its installation and acting as a noise barrier to the lobby.

© Lukas Schaller

The exterior ring is made up of the living areas found in houses, offering enough sunlight exposure and vast landscape views. Since the structural elements are concentrated in the inner ring, the area is more open, offering flexibility with the organization of its spaces. The thin movable walls are simplified to meet the needs of its changeable inhabitants over the years. The exterior ring is surrounded by a continuous balcony and through its irregular shape creates an authentic space that offers each house a completely different private outdoor area. This type of balcony was designed in order to lighten the visual volume of the building and integrate it into the landscape.

© Lukas Schaller

The second type of building is included in a more urban context. Located along the existent street, following a north-south axis, the apartments are organized in a cross-stacked scheme. Each apartment is provided with an East-West solar exposure. This organization inspired by Le Corbusier´s Unité d’Habitation, provides generous spaces with beautiful galleries and high-ceiling living rooms. The flexibility of space is also a feature, since high-ceilings offer flexibility for transformation and conversion, depending on the needs of the current occupant.

© Jaan Sokk

The exterior spaces comply with the same concept of the River Towers. A wide balcony that surrounds the building creating unique outdoor areas. In the lower levels, the terrain merges with the ground floor, creating a private garden for each house.
다음 페이지 로드 중…

© Hiroki Kawata

Architect: ninkipen!
Location: Nara, Japan
Project Area: 80.84 sqm
Project Year: 2009
Photographs: Hiroki Kawata

   

 

The project is a small residence for a couple with one child, situated in Nara, Japan. The neighborhood is determined by a large number of individual houses spread over a gentle slope facing south. During the design process, the lot right beside was yet empty and it was unclear what was going to be built. With this in mind, the design had to be autonomous, yet at the same time it should be able to react positively with whatever was going to be built next door.

© Hiroki Kawata

The volume of the house is constituted of an uneven volume, split and shifted both in ground plan and elevation into sub-volumes that are visually separated, but connected through continuous lighting and ventilation.

Section

The interior space is characterized by interconnected cubes with no doors, and privacy is ensured by deliberate nooks and narrowing between the rooms. Even though the house is relatively small with 80.84 sqm, the continuous spaces is feels deceivingly larger.

© Hiroki Kawata

                 

Single Family House / ninkipen! originally appeared on ArchDaily, the most visited architecture website on 27 Jul 2011.

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© Brian Rose

Architects: David Baker & Partners
Location: San Francisco, California, USA
Client: BRIDGE Housing
Contractor: Nibbi Brothers General Contractors
Project Year: 2011
Project Area: 131,800 sqm
Photographs: Brian Rose

 

This complex development fills a formerly industrial city block with an innovative housing mix: Affordable urban townhomes to keep growing families in the city and family housing adjacent to senior apartments to prevent seniors from living in isolation.

© Brian Rose

Leading a trend of transit-oriented development along the district’s main business corridor, the development lies just a block from a stop of a new light-rail line, a park, and a health center. The senior building, with 116 affordable rental units, serves as the anchor for the development, housing neighborhood-serving retail space and services and presenting an iconic tower at the corner that signals a sense of place.

Plan

To reflect the historically African-American population of the neighborhood, design details were drawn from traditional African textiles and symbols. Textile-inspired paint and window arrangements combine to wrap the public face of the building in an interlocking “quilt” of color and pattern. The courtyard is ringed by a wall inset with Ashanti tribal symbols representing security, wisdom, power, love, unity, and hope.

© Brian Rose

Based on income, the rents range from $0 to $635/month, with qualifying income levels below 50% AMI and some units reserved for formerly homeless seniors. The building is LEED NC Registered, with a goal of Gold. It features many complementary green strategies, including storm-water management, solar arrays that heat domestic water and light the common spaces, and healthy interiors and materials.

© Brian Rose

The senior apartments overlook the park, the courtyard, or a landscaped mews that runs between the building and the family townhouse development. The mews, an extension of the city street grid, provides direct access to the surrounding neighborhood and serves as a walking path away from the main arterial roadway.

© Brian Rose

In the family development, two mirrored sections of stacked townhouses flank a large open public courtyard above one level of parking, lobby, and community spaces. While staying connected to the city streets through private stoops and balconies, the townhouses surround the central courtyard, which features vegetable gardens, outdoor seating, and a picnic and play structure. Each side also features a smaller private courtyard with planters and picnic tables.

© Brian Rose

Of the 124 family townhomes, half feature three and four bedrooms, allowing people to stay as families grow. Many larger units are designed for aging in place, with stairs wide enough to accommodate wheelchair lifts and accessible living quarters on the entry level. These for-sale townhomes range from $175,000 to $345,000 and are available to families earning between 60 and 100% AMI.

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