adaptive re-use cooperative housing

studio | 2a | fall 2021 software | rhino 7, grasshopper, enscape, adobe illustrator & photoshop supervisor | Rick Haldenby second floor bb section aa section

Located in Kitchener, Ontario, this project aims to make the transition to higher density living possible for people moving from more rural and suburban areas. Based on the German Bagruppen cooperative housing model, this project aims tell the stories of real people. I talked to six people in my life that currently live in suburban or rural areas about what would make apartment style living fit their lifestyle. For example, there was one family with a person in a wheelchair, a multigeneration family, and a few families with students away from home.

This project is designed to be almost entirely prefabricated. There are standard rooms and layouts for each apartment that could be slightly altered to meet the needs of the families. There are only four different types of prefabricated walls used for the facade, three different bathroom layouts, one kitchen layout, and three different bedroom set ups. These spaces were then reorganized to fill the space for the people that are imagined living there. The units are then supported by a communal green house, garden, and kitchen space. Plant walls made from the existing brick curve up the walls of the double-height space to form a large green space.