Rowhouse Do's and Don'ts Manual

Sharswood Rowhouse Manual Design 3 Section 6 Fall 2021 Chris Casserly, Connor Donahue, Owen Felty, Caitlyn Graney, Blake Hart, Andrew Hart, Evan Henderson, Jessica Oberg, Kayla Roldan, Jeremy Schachter, Lydia Shaw, Annie Squire Southworth, Alyssa Swaim, Summer Tang, Evely Vaquero Flores, & Emma Vormshlag

DO

Properly Managing A Site As a member of a community and someone with a voice on a construction project, it is vital to speak up with a situation is unsafe. One of these situations is when a construction site is poorly maintained, secured, and left unattended.

Blake Hart, Emma Vormschlag

Follow Codes Codes exist for a reason, and when contractors don’t follow them, people get hurt. They could place gas meters next to your window which have a tendency to explode. They could not finish exterior brick detailing and have the elements erode your wall. Or, they could even leave an exposed I beam to rust in the air and compromise the structure of your building. Don’t cheap out and not finish the job. Follow codes when constructing a new building.

Owen Felty

Corner Unit Corner units are the perfect units to build when wanting to take advantage of natural light. Large windows letting in light from two as opposed to one.

Blake Hart

Good Orientation Having a good orientation goes in hand with having a good design. It is important for the rowhouse to use the vegetation that is surrounded by. This helps with heating in the winter and cooling in the summer

N. 26th Street Evely Vaquero Flores: Emma Vormshlag

Maintaining Sunlight on Street Level Sunlight is essential for human health and well-being as well as coming with many benefits.

By creating a space that allows more sunlight to shine onto the street level, it helps to increase the quality of life of the neighborhood.

BUILDING

SKY COMPONENT EXTERNALLY REFLECTED COMPONENT INTERNALLY REFLECTED COMPONENT Connor Donahue, Emma Vormschlag

Adding Trees to Sidewalk The addition of trees to urban communities help to breath more life into these spaces. Other than that, it allows for better water management, creation of cooler and safer air,and helps to increase the physical and mental health of the neighborhood and community. Along with using the principles of Good Orientation,

Connor Donahue, Emma Vormschlag, Evan Henderson, Owen Felty

Incorporate Green Space In urban areas, green space can be hard to come by. Finding anyway to incorporate it is important, whether a front or back yard, planting a tree, or turning a vacant lot into a community garden. Not only does the green space encourage community interaction, it also helps prevent urban decay.

Brewerytown Garden

Jessica Oberg, Owen Felty, Evan Henderson

Non Invasive Alley Usage As alleys provide space for community members of all ages to gather, keeping these unorthodox spaces clean is crucial. In a city where open space is minimal, maintaining any open space left should rein high priority to one’s well being.

Emma Vormschlag, Owen Felty

Refinement Refinement of space allows for improvement of multiple things; better engagement of space, a better view of the place, and a more welcoming atmosphere.

Summer Tang, Evan Henderson, Owen Felty

Sharable Spaces Sharable spaces help to create a community and bring personality to a neighborhood. Having these spaces allow for people to gather and share moments and memories that could only have been made in this specific place, it creates an environment that lacks dull or boring moments.

Elfreth’s Alley

Caitlyn Graney

Friendly Stoops Stoops are an integral part of row home communities. They connection you and your neighbors by serving as a social space. Stoops that face each other from across the street unite opposing row homes creating a micro-community.

Owen Felty

Incorporate Porches The basic function of a porch is to protect people and the structure from the elements. In urban areas like Sharswood, porches also serve as a space for socialization with passer-bys and keep residents involved with their community.

Jessica Oberg, Emma Vormschlag

Railings The addition of railings to a porch front promotes accessibility and safety while simultaneously and better defining porch space. They also disrupt the unity of the street by allowing owners of individual houses to customize their property to their liking.

Annie Squire Southworth

Awnings & Shade Coverings Utilizing awnings and shade coverings is one way in which to promote positive sidewalk citizenship. By creating a space protected from the elements, it gives neighbors an area to congregate. An awning over the front door can also provide convenient cover from inclement weather when entering and existing one’s home.

Annie Squire Southworth

Places To Sit As places to sit in the city are scarce, having a comfortable place to do so prolongs the amount of time any individual may spend outside. Seating positively reinforces a sense of community and individual identity within this community.

Homemade bench along 22nd St.

Emma Vormschlag, Hart Prior Sect.

Mixed-Use Buildings Multi-story buildings that serve as both commercial and residential spaces. Typically the ground floor houses the retail space with the residential units on the floors above. Some mixed-use buildings contain parking at the basement level.

Jeremy Schachter

ADA Compliant Even though stoops are a good design aspect that help create a sense of community it does not allow everyone to enter the row house safely. One of the ways that row houses could be ADA compliant would be by adding a ramp or having the door at the same level as the sidewalk.

2220 Master St. & 923 N 26th St Evely Vaquero Flores; Owen Felty, Evan Henderson

Preserve Historical Content It is important to preserve historical content because it is essential to the character of the rowhouse and the neighborhood as a whole. It is important to considered this in the design process when renovating or constructing new row houses.

Row Houses These following three row houses show different types of historical content.

260 W. Oxford St. & Nicholas St. Evely Vaquero Flores; Evan Henderson

Personalization The personalization of row homes helps to add character and uniqueness to the neighborhood and the surroundings. It helps to encourage people to put life into their house, bringing the community together. It also gets rid of this monotonous repetition that we see in a lot of the row home communities.

Caitlyn Graney

Address Number Address numbers can be part of the aesthetics when it comes to exterior designs. The front and placement varies from houses to houses.

Summer Tang, Emma Vormschlag

Cornice Cornices are used to improve the aesthetics of the exterior walls and to protect the wall face. Having them helps shape the house/ frame the looks.

Summer Tang & Emma Vormschlag

Brick Patterning/Texture Using different types or different textures of brick adds a lot of dimensionality and character to a facade.

Evan Henderson, Owen Felty

Stucco Stucco is a construction material made with water, a binder, and aggregates. It is usually used for exterior walls, decorative coatings, and as a sculptural and artistic material in architecture.

Jeremy Schachter, Emma Vormschlag, Evan Henderson, Owen Felty

Design “Families” Create a series of homes that share commonalities, but aren’t the exact same home being repeated.

Evan Henderson

Consistency Maintaining consistency among each row house’s facade is a way to preserve and exemplify the craftsmanship invested in a set of homes. As each home can be decorated to one’s specific taste, keeping a cohesive facade embodies a willingness to form a sense of community.

Emma Vormschlag, Hart Prior Sect.

Fun Color Palette The inviting colors of Sharswood make the townhouses something to marvel at. Each townhouse introduces a new personality to the community.

Lydia Shaw, PHOTO COURTESY OF HART D3 SEC 6

Use Parapet Style Roofing The parapet roof is commonly found on row houses because of its safety features. A parapet roof is a flat roof, guarded by an extension of the front wall.

It is highly effective at preventing the spread of fire, as well as protecting the structure from wind damage.

Jessica Oberg, Owen Felty, Evan Henderson

Roof Decks Roof decks can add character to a building. Some buildings provide shared roof decks for the entire complex creating a space for socialization and interaction.

Allows for better views of the city from a higher elevation

Roof deck creates place for social gatherings

Kayla Roldan, Owen Felty, Evan Henderson

Turrets Turrets create a sense of depth and texture on the exterior, allowing more light on the inside and providing a covering on the outside.

Evan Henderson

Natural Light The roof shields home from hot sun in the summer

Due to the tight proximity of neighbors, natural light from the front and back sides is important to residents. The iconic bay windows not only provide lots of sunlight, but also privacy from neighbors.

Lower winter sun rays enter the home to warm the inside

Lydia Shaw, PHOTO COURTESY OF HART D3 SEC 6

Bay Windows Lacks boring boxy shape

Natural light

Bay windows are always a positive for row houses because they add natural light and additional space to a lot of homes that lack it. They take away the feeling of having a bare minimum design, and give homes an elegant exterior look .

Caitlyn Graney

Transom Windows These are windows placed above doors or other windows. This helps with allowing more natural light to enter the space which allows for more conservation of energy because of the electricity that would be saved by using natural light.

Connor Donahue, Special Credit to Julian Smith from Last Year’s Hart D3

Innovated Stair Placement The placement of a staircase can redefine a room.

Being creative with the placement can lead to a clean open layout.

Placement of stairs, allows for spacious living area

Kayla Roldan; Owen Felty & Evan Henderson

Open Concept Plans Open concept floor plans are one way in which a designer can maximize livable space in the narrow nature of a row house. Space can be optimized along with light, airflow, and ventilation.

Annie Squire Southworth

Respectful Design Respectful design is design that is not selfish, and benefits the entire site instead of one’s own design.

Working together with other buildings on site to create themes and remain consistent pulls neighborhoods together. Remain unique without overshadowing others

[INSERT REFERENCE IMAGE OR INSPIRATION]

Alyssa Swaim

Ability to Renovate/Make Changes By renovating and making changes to a site, the building can be preserved and updated to maintain the overall health of a neighbourhood. Updating out of date structures can also allow for adding in appropriate ADA approved features

Alyssa Swaim

Renovate Over New Construction The unique character of Sharswood and its townhouses should only seek renovations that maintain those characteristics and do not seek to take away the character. It is better to renovate than to build new.

Lydia Shaw, PHOTO COURTESY OF HART D3 SEC 6

Additions with Intention Additions to residences (or other building types) are common, usually under new ownership. The best additions are ones designed with intention, for instance: Handicap accessible stoops, extensions to a residence that flows with the original design, adding minor green spaces, etc

Jeremy Schachter, Jessica Oberg, Evan Henderson, Owen Felty

Affordability Create affording living spaces. There is a lack of affordable housing available to residents of the Sharswood community.

Kayla Roldan

Realistic Renderings Having your building read the way you want it, is a great opportunity to use a professional rendering software. Visualizing a project is sometimes difficult for a client, so using a realistic rendering of the project is a great way to make it more legible.

Blake Hart, Zillow

Site Research from its Residents Every community is connected in one way or another. By obtaining deeper knowledge of a site directly from the source, an architect can greater represent new structures within the site and continue creating respectful design.

Alyssa Swaim, Annie Squire Southworth

DONT

Urban Decay Areas of urban decay attract illegal activity and trash. As these spaces are unsupervised they become hubs for unwanted business and can lead to hazardous environments the longer unkempt.

Community members become responsible to keep these locations remotely maintained to combat unwanted guests.

Emma Vormschlag

Dispersible Spaces The use of space can be beneficial as well as harmful to a building. Minimize the amount and size of voidable spaces we include in the design of a building.

Open space in front of he house takes away from the sidewalk

Giving too much open space allows for clutter and garbage to accumulate

Kayla Roldan

Misuse of Sidewalks Sidewalks outside of row houses are rarely used as they’re meant to be. Cracked sidewalks with weeds and grass overtaking, trash on the curbs, and the blockage of paths with a plethora objects are some of the many things that corrupt sidewalks.

Jeremy Schachter, Evan Henderson, Owen Felty

Dust Bunny Traps Adding stoops on row houses are a great way to create a community aspect until they have space underneath. Having this additional space allows the possibility for garbage displays and a gathering space for wild animals.

1231 N. Taney St. Evely Vaquero Flores; Evan Henderson

Garbage Displays Between sidewalks and under stoops, places where garbage can be seen is an eyesore...and smells bad.

Evan Henderson

Death Holes The name pretty much explains the problem. These holes leading to basement apartment windows tend to fill up with clutter and interrupt the circulation of the sidewalk. Plus if you’re really unlucky, you might fall in.

Owen Felty

Difficult Egress The reason death holes exist is to let light into the basement windows, but also they provide a means of egress out of the basement. Unfortunately, some egress location are poorly designed. The ladders leading out of the basement often end above the gate which lets you out. So in case of an emergency you’d have to jump over the ladder intended to assist you.

Owen Felty

Impermeable Pavement Using impermeable pavement as a surface technique for backyards and pedestrian walkways has a higher chance to hold water on its surface.

This could lead to having problems such as ice patches, mildew, and flooding.

930 N. Bambrey St. Evely Vaquero Flores; Jeremy Schachter

A/C Condenser in Backyard While usually A/C condensers are in the backyard are common, in this urban environment it could be a bad move. They need a good amount of space to be contained in but since the backyard spaces are smaller it poses a safety hazard as well as the noise it produces so close to the house

Connor Donahue, Emma Vormschlag

Let Plants Take Over Facade Incorporating plants into the design of a row house can have both positive and negative effects. In some instances people put lots of plants on the facade of the building to make the building appear eco-friendly while in reality that might not be the case.

Annie Squire Southworth

Ground Plan: Non-intrusive Stairs

Intrusive Stairs Row Houses

Row houses have intentionally been designed as groups rather than singular units like suburban homes. It is important to ensure that when renovating old row houses or creating new ones is to keep this community aspect of it part of the design.

- Consistency - Pattern

Pedestrian Walkway Ground Plan: Intrusive Stairs

Row Houses

- Disruption - Unpleasing Pedestrian Walkway 1220 N. Taney St. Evely Vaquero Flores; Emma Vormschlag

Take Neighbors For Granted In most scenarios, when you move into a place you aren't going to be living in that area alone. You are going to be apart of a community of people who care about each other and the. Discounting these people will not just hurt yourself but hurt the efforts of the neighborhood.

Connor Donahue

Hyper Specific Purpose If designed with too much specificity, it can be hard to reproduce down the line. Expensive light fixtures that go out of production, customized siding that can only be produced by one manufacturer, are both examples of dicey design choices. What is started with will eventually need to be replaced, so make sure there are multiple options and is not hyper focused design.

Alyssa Swaim

Bare Minimum Design Bare minimum design doesn't allow for any creativity to take place in the design process, and generates repetitive and boring houses that will only last so long because of their cheap materials. It takes up space that could be used for houses with more intricate or personal designs. They also tend to have cluttered spaces that have to fit every necessity, making the spaces annoying and hard to use.

2’ 5’

5’

Caitlyn Graney

Judge A Book By It’s Cover As the definition of beauty is subjective, it's important to remember to put biases aside when visiting a community. When a home is overlooked the character and beauty it holds becomes undervalued, and can ultimately reflect poorly upon the community.

Emma Vormschlag, Evan Henderson

Stand Alone When a townhouse stands alone, it seems lonely and creates a sense of vacancy around it.

Townhouses are meant to be grouped together like families and work together side-by-side.

More sun exposure, resulting in higher internal temperature Missing community advantages

Less visitors to area

Lydia Shaw,, PHOTO COURTESY OF HART D3 SEC 6

Roof Decks As appealing as they may seem, roof decks in urban areas like Sharswood can create problems in the neighborhood. Often times, roof decks create an unofficial third or fourth story, resulting in unnecessarily tall rowhomes. These tall houses block sunlight to both the street and neighboring rowhomes and eventually, too many roof decks will obstruct city views in Sharswood altogether.

Jessica Oberg, Evan Henderson, Owen Felty

Overly-Tall Row Homes Overly tall row houses ruin the uniformity of the the neighborhood and take away from the character of the houses around it. It interrupts the natural flow of the houses, the community and the sunlight.

Caitlyn Graney

Single Story Row House Single story row houses takes up more lot than multi story homes, which means less yard space; and in addition, the maximum square footage is also smaller yet it often cost more to build.

Summer Tang

Remove Character Current renovators and contractors are building townhouses that are modern. With modernism, comes minimalism. With minimalism, comes the removal of the historic architectural characteristics of Sharswood.

LYDIA SHAW, PHOTO COURTESY OF HART D3 SEC 6

Removing Original Materials Getting rid of original material can take away character from that building. Instead we should try to restore and preserve original features on a building.

Newer construction on the left used brand new materials

Vs. the original material used on the house on the right

Kayla Roldan

Cheap Materials The use of cheap materials limits the possibilities and uniqueness that we look forward to when designing buildings. The prefabricated panels seen in many of the new row houses are tacky looking, and unlike the structural bricks used in old row homes, the newer ones are hollow and will not survive years of wear and tear.

Fabricated Panels

Hollow Bricks Caitlyn Graney

Clash of Different Materials The increase of new development in Sharswood brings along with it an increase of modern design styles. One technique utilized in renovating older row houses is giving the building a more visually interesting exterior by combining many different materials on the facade which oftentimes then clashes with the older row homes it is adjacent, drawing the eye to the renovated building in a negative way. She’s fugly.

Annie Squire Southworth

Too Much Varied Materiality Having a palette with too many colors/materials may make a row home overwhelming to look at.

Evan Henderson

Modern Colors Greyscale buildings are a typical characteristic of modern design, but when placed next to the colorful homes featured in Sharswood, they draw the eye in a negative way. These buildings often remove the character featured in so many of Sharswood’s existing homes, distracting from the character filled homes surrounding them.

Jessica Oberg

Vinyl Siding Towers While vinyl siding can provide benefits such as being affordable and highly customizable, it should not be your first choice for a type of siding. Some of its downsides are that it lacks insulation, the fragility, and the issues of toxicity and moisture issues.

Connor Donahue, Emma Vormschlag

Disrupt Unity with Modernity Sharswood features many streets of unified row houses. These homes are cohesive but not exactly the same, differing through color, railing types, and other characteristics. However, the disruption of these homes by modern designs, make them stand out in a negative way, removing character in the process.

Jessica Oberg, Evan Henderson, Owen Felty

Build Unsustainable Energy Building with energy sustainability in mind for both electric and a heating standpoint are pivotal for a well designed structure. For heating, single pane glass windows do not keep heat from escaping a home; Two pane is a much better solution. Energy efficiency during the day is also an important task.

This can be achieved by having plenty of natural light entering the space, mitigating the use of powered lighting.

Blake Hart, WCMA

Excessive Wall Penetration Excessive wall penetrations includes obtrusive A/C units, protruding pipings and wirings, over excessive stoops. All of these are a hindrance to sidewalk walkability as well as safety.

Jeremy Schachter, Evan Henderson, Owen Felty

Unalignment of Windows When windows are unaligned the consistency amongst homes is broken. Unlike material or color, geometry can make adversity cohesive. When a row of windows breaks the determined geometry of a street the sense of community is defied.

Emma Vormschlag, Hart Prior Sect.

Unaligned Windows When addressing newer construction, blending your structure in with the existing/neighboring buildings should be addressed. This blending and cohesion can be achieved by ensuring that your windows align with what’s existing.

Blake Hart

Box-Bay Windows Not only do they barely add any square footage to a home, but they let in less light, and feel less human.

Evan Henderson

Broken Windows Broken windows are not only aesthetically displeasing, but are hazardous and cost more to leave broken than the cost of fixing. Internal heat/ air conditioning will leak out, as well as sound from the environment. Living experience will not be comfortable, and can be displeasing from the exterior. Exteriors with rotting hinges and unsafe frames should be changed.

Alyssa Swaim

Bars on Windows A sense of coldness is brought by the use of bars on windows. the bars have a negative connotation as they are usually associated with prison.

Yes, they may provide extra protection, but with improvements in the community they would not be needed.

LYDIA SHAW, PHOTO COURTESY OF HART D3 SEC 6

Private Windows in Public Spaces In row home design, not much thought is often put into the back of the building. Sometimes a bathroom or bedroom maybe be very visible to the neighbor in the row home opposite. This is quite undesirable for any person that values privacy.

Owen Felty

Narrow Doors Having narrow doors can make a house feel more hostile, unwelcoming. It’s also inconvenience for moving items in and out of the house.

Summer Tang & Evan Henderson & Owen Felty

Poor Lighting Not having access to natural light during the day can leave areas in your home without adequate lighting. This can leave rooms in with dark shadows and relying on artificial lighting.

Poor Lighting Use

Good Lighting Use

Blake Hart

Luxury Finishes Luxury finishes can be added to both the exterior and the interior (examples here show exterior).

Luxury finishes may give a row house an added aesthetic but it is not worth the price these additions are set at.

Brick Rowhomes Cost ≈ $200,000

Luxury Rowhomes Cost ≈ $400,000

Jeremy Schachter, Evan Henderson, Owen Felty

Tight Hallways Tight hallways restricts the movement and flow inside house, making it uncomfortable for people to travel back and forth of the house.

Summer Tang

Poor Kitchen Layout A poor kitchen layout can make a room feel much smaller than it is. Making it undesirable. Instead we should design smart in order to maximize usable living space.

Kitchen layout that maximizes space of the room without the feeling of being cramped

Kayla Roldan

Scary Basement Cracks in the windows and walls, exposed piping and cables, and possibly a raccoon in the hole in the ceiling doesn't make for habitual living. Unfinished basements tolerated, but attempt to make the space as hazard free, ADA guideline approved, and as functioning as possible.

Alyssa Swaim