Cheyenne Hughes

player .14

CASE STUDY BRIEF The goal of this project is to create a multi-generational house on an eleven acre, off-grid site. This project should allow for connectivity, accessibility, and flexibility.

This house should re-imagine the original case study house from the 1940's and push the boundaries of a what a typical house can and should be. As designers, we should be implimenting design ideas of functionality, sustainability, affordability and longevity. Not only should we be designing a house but we should also be aiding the inhabitants ability to make it a home. Part of our job as designers is to create spaces that are both functional for the people living in them while also creating something new and beautiful. Can we redesign the case study house under the constraints we have been given?

insert full bleed money shot

PARTI DIAGRAM Having the multi-generational family type, I wanted to focus on accessibility and flexibility with age. I went with a mother in law suite concept for the multi-generational family and wanted to focus on how an older family members needs may change as they age. Mother-in-law suites are normally used to help downsize someones amount of personal belongings as they age while also allowing for the things they need to be readily available within their home. Transforming those ideas into a division of space came about after using thick walls and thresholds as a separation of space in relation to important adjacencies. The next challenge was determining how to use the thicker areas along with intentional breaks allowing for exits and views outside. The parti diagram for the project became the driving factor of the floor plan and translated into the roof plan. These driving forces created space for designed storage areas.

This helps to eliminate the need to open heavy closet doors at older ages, get rid of dead closet space that gets filled with junk and allows for structural and supporting elements to be built into the spine.

FIRST FLOOR PLAN

10

1 5

SECOND FLOOR PLAN

IN CONSTRUCTION - SOLID

YEAR 1 - PUSH VS. PULL

YEAR 2 - THIN LINES

YEAR 3 - GRID LINES

YEAR 4 - INTRODUCTION OF CLOSED SPACES

YEAR 5 - CLOSED SPACES

The idea of storage as a spine is meant to be evolving. The diagram to the left shows how these storage built-ins can change over time and as needs change. Everyones needs are different and allowing for a house to function and change as the client(s) change is an ideal solution to a lot of issues that homeowners face. A house often goes through a life cycle the same way a family does so why should a house not function as an ever changing space.

The different options and evolution of the storage spaces within this home start as being solid walls during construction but can then become whatever the client desires them to be. Regardless of the route the client chooses to go with how they evolve their home, the spaces should read as if they are extrusions of the wall which allows them to serve as both storage and utility areas. Builders can use these spaces to run wiring, duct work and hide the otherwise “unsightly” aspects of a home within the walls. These solutions may not apply to everyone but in an attempt to allow for a multi-generational family to scale down the amount of space and things that they have, this proposal makes sense.

So much of our homes become filled with either dead closet space that doesn’t get used or they become filled with junk that we forget about over the years. Since everything is more open and easily accessible with this design, it allows for people to easily dispose of things that may otherwise get shoved into a closet to never be seen again. Designing a home to these specifications allows for a more efficient way of living.