If you’d like to own a home in the city but fear you’ll never be able to afford it, the Office of Jonathan Tate may have some good news for you. The New Orleans-based architecture firm and developer Charles Rutledge have launched the Starter Home* project, a housing experiment to transform oddly shaped urban lots across cities into valuable housing stock with tiny but thoughtfully designed homes. The affordable, entry-level homes are targeted at first-time homebuyers.
Unlike the approach taken by most U.S. housing developers, Tate and Rutledge seek out underused urban lots to build on, rather than greenfield land. The Starter Home* project combines thoughtful site-specific design with real estate speculation that uses GIS analysis to identify vacant lots in favorable locations that, often because of their irregular shapes and small size, are considered undesirable by conventional developers. “The program is financed and operated by a working collaboration between developer, builder and architect,” writes Tate. “It is conceived as being applicable to many, if not all, cities.”
Related: Bronx Box Prefab Fills a Narrow Urban Lot with a Charming Waterfront Home
The first test site is in New Orleans, where Starter Home* completed its first home, called No. 1, located at 3106 St. Thomas St. on a very narrow lot in the city’s Irish Channel neighborhood and historic district. Clad in corrugated white metal, the 975-square-foot tall and slender home is topped with a zigzag roof and braced with an interior vertical steel truss to protect against hurricane gusts. The three-story structure stacks a loft, bedroom, and bathroom above a kitchen, dining room, and living room.
The starter house is currently on the market for $339,000; the higher-than-expected price will help Starter Home* recoup the initial development cost. Future units are expected to be more affordable thanks to economies of scale. The team presently has between 15 to 20 more site-specific homes in the works for New Orleans, and has plans to expand their infill development project to Oakland, California and beyond.
Via Fast Company
Images via Office of Jonathan Tate, © Will Crocker
from Inhabitat - Green Design, Innovation, Architecture, Green Building http://ift.tt/23quXy0
Advertisement
Sourced by "Home Hacks". Scouring and supporting the art of DIY home projects by sharing links and information provided by numerous active reputable DIY veterans and company's. Any projects you start please be of proper age, follow all required safety measures, and use the required protective equipment when handling any chemicals, power tools, or during any construction project. If you need advice regarding your next project we suggest visiting Contractor Talk.
