First-year environmental design students at Texas A&M designed a high-density, mixed-use housing cluster with “green” elements for a theoretical site in College Station during a spring 2011 studio led by Phillip Tabb, professor of architecture.
“Part of the problem was to design an effective live/work unit and the other part was to use urban design principles, or to respond to the context in which their project was placed,” said Tabb.
Students designed three-story buildings with a ground-level shop, an apartment on the upper two levels topped by a roof garden with a small greenhouse.
They were also asked to provide an outdoor space with a minimum of 100 square feet accessible from the apartment.
“Their designs were to take advantage of natural breezes, sun protection and one eight-foot by eight-foot solar collector for hot-water heating,” said Tabb. “Each dwelling unit had to have a one-car garage of approximately 200 square-feet accessed from an alley.”
Students constructed models of their designs and placed them together on a common base.
“The project focused on place patterns and the ways in which they are activated within the context of an urban fabric,” said Tabb.
- Posted: May 24, 2011 -
Contact: Phillip Rollfing, prollfing@archone.tamu.edu or 979.458.0442.