microhousing

2 Semesters - 2021

The goal of this project was to design a microhouse that addresses the current issues of living in a city. With increasing rent costs, it has become difficult to afford living in a city. This has led to people moving to the suburbs. The project started out in individual teams, then progressed into groups of two, next finished as a class project. The class first started out with extensive research into microhousing, investigating floor plan layouts, convertible furniture design, materiality, etc. We transitioned into the development of our own design schemes. Producing construction documents led students to focus on how different components of the building were to be detailed and assembled in construction.

The intent of this design was to create a second story microhouse that shifts apart. Consisting of a simple floor plan box shape, the advantage to having two stories was to be able to create open to below space that allows interaction between both levels. Having a double height ceiling area made a small space feel larger. Simple techniques like this were used throughout the design of the microhouse. The proposed design included the kitchen, bathroom, and living room on the first level. Stairs that housed laundry and storage lead up to the second floor that included a bedroom and office space. A catwalk allowed access to the south end of the home where a second floor outdoor space was created to allow homeowner use for growing, gathering, etc. On the opposite end, the bedroom cantilevered over the front entrance, allowing for a private entrance and front porch seating area. Investigation on how the unit can be aggregated to create a community was also explored as well as materiality. Even smaller details such as kitchen and stair design were studied.