#20kv20

October brings a lot of excitement in the studio with our annual Pumpkin Carve event and with the famous Halloween Reviews. This year our team dressed up as Daenerys Targaryen and her three dragons: Drogon, Viserion, and Rhaegal, from the popular Game of Thrones series. It was unclear who intimated who(m) more-- the reviewers or the dragons? The studio was lucky enough to be reviewed by acclaimed architects, professors, and engineers such as Marlon Blackwell, Mary English, Scott Finn, and Tim MacFarlane.

In this review, we explained that we have narrowed down our schemes to three plans: the Chubby Bar, the T-scheme, and the L-scheme. All of the schemes have a porch connecting the main house with the extra unit, creating a dogtrot style house. The porch is an important element to the house since it acts as a transition space and an exterior room.

The benefits from having the house in the L or T shape is that they make the house feel bigger, engage the outdoor spaces as a formal yard, and will be the first 20K to turn a corner. However, the Chubby scheme would have one continuous roof which cuts down cost and allows for east construction. Our critique of the different iterations went well, but some things we need to work on are how to incorporate more services for the extra unit such as the bathroom, washing machine, and kitchen. We are looking into which services should be shared if the owner decides to have a renter living in the unit, but we all know everyone needs their privacy! 

After developing our idea and doing a bit of research, we moved onto developing plans. Many, many plans. As a team, we determined what the underlying ideas of the house were, and what design moves we should make to support it. 

Separate, but Connected

The parti for our house is: “separate, but connected.” Living in two separate buildings, the occupants should be able to live relatively independently. However, it is important that the opportunity to have shared services (such as the main house’s kitchen and living room) is created. It’s important that the house reads as one, visually and performatively. 

Centralized Porch 

The centralized porch is a communal space that can be used by all occupants. It’s an entry threshold in many ways, but it can be more. We began to think about factors that define how the porch would be used. In some of our iterations, sliding barn doors that close it off at night change the dynamic of the space. During the day, the porch is open-- an entry way or sitting area. At night, it closes off the house for security and the entire house itself acts as a barrier, or wall. And occupants are able to gain an enclosed room inside. 

Flexible Unit

The additional unit is another important part of our project. The idea is that anything can happen here. A renter’s unit, guest house, bed-and-breakfast, home office, arts and crafts room, yoga studio-- you name it. So how can this small, less-than-300-sq.-ft. unit be so flexible if you have to include areas like a bathroom and kitchen? What appliances are “fixed” and what can be added on? These are some of the questions that we’ve been asking ourselves. 

Being at an early stage of design, we wanted to try out as many schemes as we could that executed these ideas in a strong and clear way. Here are some of the moves of our early iterations:

Long Bar & Chubby Bar- Single or double loaded bedrooms are placed together on one side of the house. This is to keep the potentially shared services closest to the porch. Living / kitchen / dining are grouped together into one large room. Various iterations test out different room sizes and entry orientations. 

“L” Scheme- Single loaded bedrooms create a lengthier main house that frame a courtyard space. 

Sliding Bar- Using the original idea behind the dogtrot house, daytime spaces are separated from the nighttime spaces. 

Wild Card- Breaking up the shared spaces and bedrooms, they’re placed around an outdoor communal space. 

“T” Scheme- Bedrooms are placed on opposite ends of the main house, which creates an efficient, corridor-less plan.

Whew, that was a long post. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg (!) Signing out for now, 

Hello, everyone! We’d like to introduce ourselves as the Income House Team. Our names (clockwise from the lower-left) are Nathaniel Bartlett, Ellise Gallagher, Libby So, and Quinton Jones. And we’re extremely excited to work on the next iteration of the 20K Product Line! (Can’t you tell?!) 

As 1 of 3 teams building 20K Houses this year, we were each challenged with focusing on a primary idea. Our focus: ways in which one could make money from home. Typically, this could mean: renting out part of your home, working from home, and any other way to make direct $ for the house owner. Or it could mean saving money, like living with a elderly family member.

Through research, we’ve found that there is a high demand for these evolving needs, which could potentially be a source of income for the homeowner. And so, we’d like our design to suit a variety of living scenarios, which includes catering to non-traditional occupants. The Income House will include a two-bedroom home and a separate flexible unit.