Habitat aims to improve affordable housing design

Habitat for Humanity is seeking to raise its design standards through a collaboration with the Institute for Classical Architecture & Classical America (ICA&CA). Three architects selected by ICA&CA are designing houses in Rochester, New York, Savannah, Georgia, and Portsmouth, Virginia. The first house, in collaboration with Flower City Habitat for Humanity in Rochester, New York, broke ground in September. It was designed by architect Richard Cameron.
This winter a pattern book by Ray Gindroz of Urban Design Associates is due to be published. It is expected to include the three houses along with other outstanding Habitat dwellings and a few affordable housing designs that have never been used by Habitat, like Marianne Cusato’s Katrina Cottage. It will also explain new urbanist principles for how houses ought to fit into neighborhoods, along with basic typological theory related to Habitat houses. The pattern book will be distributed to Habitat’s chapters, which number 1,800 nationwide, according to Paul Gunther, president of ICA&CA.
The Savannah house, by Merrill,  Pastor, and Colgan architects of Vero Beach, Florida, is set to break ground in December. The Virginia house, by architect Mason Andrews, was actually slated to be built in Norfolk, but ran into community opposition and now is planned for Portsmouth, Gunther says.
The program began with a $50,000 matching grant from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). The Surdna Foundation offered $80,000, and the Federal Home Loan Savings Bank, the Prince of Wales Foundation, the Gimbel Foundation, and the Bloomberg company also contributed.
“To be effective, affordable housing should be dispersed throughout healthy historic neighborhoods that have an intact community structure and access to transit,” says NEA Director of Design Jeff Speck. “But these neighborhoods often resist Habitat houses, not for socioeconomic reasons, but simply because Habitat’s designs are not compatible with their historic fabric.”
Speck helped bring ICA (now ICA&CA) and Habitat together shortly after becoming NEA director in 2003 “in hopes that they may find a way around this problem.” He says, “The program that they have created is an inspiring model of how designers can direct their talents towards the service of society.”
Habitat for Humanity has built more than 200,000 houses for low-income families since its founding 30 years ago. Homeowners invest sweat equity and pay a mortgage — albeit much lower than for market-rate housing. The typical Habitat house is one story, sided in vinyl, and contains between 900 and 1,200 square feet. Cost depends on the region and size, but one recent estimate in the upper Midwest put materials at $65,000, a figure that does not include land or site improvements. Labor is supplied by volunteers.
    In taking on the design project, ICA&CA architects agreed to meet Habitat’s tight budget constraints and design criteria. “We knew that we had to play by the rules, be really respectful of what Habitat for Humanity wants, and come in under budget or it’s not going to work,” says Gunther. The communities were selected in collaboration with Habitat, and the architects were chosen by ICA&CA, although not all had ties to the organization. Gindroz was asked to take part because of his recognized expertise in pattern books and affordable housing.
For its part, Habitat has set up a committee “to evaluate the issue of design and raise the quality of design while meeting guidelines for cost and square footage,” says Kathryn Slocum, who is the program director for ICA&CA on the project. Slocum says the project has been highly beneficial to both parties. “It is taking the work of ICA out of the realm of ideas and into real communities,” she says. “It’s helping Habitat to get beyond the idea of a single-story, vinyl house.”