INCOMMING HOUSING

As with so many North American Cities, Edmonton has long maintained its growth of housing on an outward journey to the suburbs and beyond, but as much of the older central housing stock has worn out, a new porous ‘infill landscape’ has emerged to accept some of the growth back inwards. Of course, in the 100 to 50 years since Edmonton’s older neighborhoods were established, much has changed. The City is bigger now, and its land is much more expensive with the average lot price far exceeding the value of the quaint 2-3 bedroom postwar bungalow typically sitting on it. Simply, the current economics favor more density - but how much density has remained the difficult question so often argued between developers seeking a profitable ROE and residents wanting to maintain the scale and character of their beloved neighborhoods. Into this debate, this proposal “Incomming Housing” offers something of a middle-ground solution that offers a variety of density and flexibility with one simple plan that can be added up to a variety of effect. As the recently allowed 25’ (7.6m) wide lot is the smallest possible foot print in Edmonton, this proposal begins with a narrow-house plan, but arranges this such that the plan still works as a duplex, or a row-house in different combinations. Altogether, the Income House introduces a new typology that is at once closely scaled to mature neighborhoods and also extremely pliable to lifestyle change. Mainly, it aims to achieve a form of social and economic sustainability that is outwardly in context with its community, and inwardly tuned to the changing life-cycles of its residents.

SITE PLAN, SINGLE HOME LOT AND CLUSTER ROW-HOUSE