This proposal was a submission for the Big Ideas for Small Lots NYC competition — a design competition organized by the NYCHPD— calling for small-scale, urban infill housing solutions. We were given a narrow site (17’) to work with, and were asked to develop a creative solution that could be replicated across different site typologies.

Community co-living

The Share House is a way of living that is focused on the economy of sharing and the exchange of quality experiences towards community enhancement.  Residents live as part of a collective sharing quality designed spaces and common amenities while being able to retreat to private comfort suites.  Co-living revitalizes its constituents by working together encouraging people to stay and contribute to their community thus limiting urban sprawl.

Our proposal seeks to create a place where people can benefit from the economy of co-living in an inspired designed environment.  By redefining conventional elements such as hallways and reconstituting them with other collective zones, these public spaces can breakdown into private enclaves that lead to small get-aways.  Separated bathrooms and showers are able to be used individually in other efficient ways. The co-living home affords people the option of quality housing enabling them to live with a sense of pride and dignity.

Quality housing

Quality homes at an affordable price are in shortage.  As a result, people have been forced to seek alternative forms of shelter and cohabitation in unconventional ways.  Communication and information technologies have helped to further redefine home and inform its evolution.  In response to this phenomena, Live/Work spaces have become more common place along with other hybrid programs inform new paradigms that negotiate extreme notions of habitation through communion.  While other precedents of  domestic sharing are evident such as condominiums, hostels, public housing, and other co-ops, none of these models critically leverage the benefits of a shared economy or the cost savings that they employ. 

Flexibility

Employing space economy strategies encourages new ways of living that potentially promote more flexibility and innovation than the conventional home prototype.  Inspired by the Japanese kyosho jataku [micro-homes] and minka house [modest rural home], multi functional furniture can host all of the essential needs of life and then be folded away to enable rooms to be reconfigured in different ways.  Together these methods with the prompt of downsizing work to redirect consumer culture and question values. The possible budget savings allows for better finishes to incorporated and a home cost subsidy.

Intent

The homes reside between the communal spaces that surround them.  Thirteen private rooms are spread among four floors containing a suite of four private rooms.  Shared bathroom and shower accommodations along with a common kitchen define each of the three upper floors with one accessible studio unit on the ground level.  Each public space shares various amenities such as dining tables with lounges for larger collective experiences at multiple levels and lockers room below. Offsets from the spatial

organization produce residuals spaces that make room for personal moments. 

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Rooms surround a central light well that connects the most inner spaces to the outside on every floor from the lowest level to the roof.  The inclusion of this passive approach allows all floors to have access to natural light and air.  The green roof above captures rain water that is collected below and recycled for the residents’ use in the rear gardens.  Multilevel terraces weave down the back façade connecting the two gardens providing private reliefs along the way.  The ground is pulled back in the rear yard at grade to draw light further into the lower precinct where additional facilities are provided. 

The green spaces can be cultivated to raise crops and create opportunities for other sustainable provisions.  Harvest can be traded with other community businesses for supplemental income.  All landscapes help to minimize heat island effect.The façade inserts the building into the city and invites the community at large in while the enlarged entrance elevates the residents.  

The client commissioned our studio to renovate and modernize a 1,000sf condo in Park Slope Brooklyn. The apartment was a bachelor’s residence that needed to be adapted to accommodate the start of his new family. The program includes a master bedroom suite, a media living room, dining area, and kitchen.

This apartment was designed to create three distinct environments within one room.

The apartment was configured around the dining room space that is at the core of the room and the family. The table was designed to be an element that mitigates an environmental change as the user engages the space. This manifold functionally anchors the room and masks one space from another.

The ParkStop is a permeable zone designated by its green terrain and banded structure. A wall and roof system made from sustainably harvested lpe wood and steel allows light to filter through while glass inserts prevent rain and snow from penetrating. Photovoltaic panels are integrated within the striated roof to provide power for lighting and an information display system. Planted material on the roof as well as on the ground supply a lush and oxygen-rich setting. The modular roof structure easily accommodates existing trees, as in the case of the prototypical site, or a newly planted tree to enhance the park-like qualities of the stop. Informal clusters of seating provide opportunities for individual or collective rest.

Views of the Harlem River led our client to renovate their rooftop into a private reprieve high above the active city streets.

The design challenge for this roof top amenity was to create a multi-functional space that could provide both entertainment spaces with the feel of an intimate lounge, as well as practical uses at alternative times. The design is comprised of a malleable lightweight frame system with three operable conditions to respond to varying weather conditions and client needs. Our proposal incorporates roof art to complement the changing light conditions and space requirements..