Let's Hear It for Duplexes and Townhomes
Multi-Family Projects: 21st-Century Advantages and Contemporary Style
While most of the thousands of photos on Houzz pertain to single-family houses, a number of multi-family projects can also be found. They offer important alternatives to houses not only in cities but also in suburban contexts.
These new ways of retrofitting and infilling the suburbs are coming to the fore in the face of energy and climate crises. Multi-family housing of even two units offers the advantages of more efficient heating and cooling arising from shared walls and typically smaller house sizes, a decrease in water use for lawns, and the potential to create enough density in an area to make walking a feasible alternative to driving.
These new ways of retrofitting and infilling the suburbs are coming to the fore in the face of energy and climate crises. Multi-family housing of even two units offers the advantages of more efficient heating and cooling arising from shared walls and typically smaller house sizes, a decrease in water use for lawns, and the potential to create enough density in an area to make walking a feasible alternative to driving.
This development in Seattle, Wash. designed by Eggleston Farkas offers an alternative to typical townhomes in the area, placing duplex units on the street with three wider units in the back of each building. The modern design in concrete and wood features generous glazing to give the units plenty of natural light.
Seattle is also home to Pb Elemental, who have designed a number of multi-family projects — some "twins" with the same or similar plans mirrored on either side of a walkway or shared wall.
The second-floor volumes here articulate the openings differently to give each residence its own identity, while still making it clear that they are part of one project.
The second-floor volumes here articulate the openings differently to give each residence its own identity, while still making it clear that they are part of one project.
Here is a development with four townhomes, also in Seattle, that is more traditional in appearance, pitched roofs and all. Collective living need not mean stylistic antagonism; it can take cues from the local style while offering a lower ecological footprint and other 21st-century advantages.
Another Seattle development incorporates balconies and courtyards oriented to gardens and a water feature. The latter is a key draw to the project while creating a strong sense of entry via bridges over it on the way home.
This duplex project in Vancouver, British Columbia includes generous balconies facing the street and a rooftop deck. There is something striking and appealing about the yellow wood that makes up this elevation.
Here is a duplex in Austin, Texas that also appears to be a large single-family residence from the street. One unit faces the front, and the second one is tucked in the back, reached via the side driveway.
This duplex in San Francisco, Calif. projects one in front of the other to give each its own character behind the identical garages. The rear yard condition ...
... shows how the terraced backyard, shared by both units, gives privacy to each if desired. Multi-family housing does require a certain social negotiation when it comes to green space, but it is usually worth it.
The quality of the spaces created through multi-family housing is certainly important. This large project in San Francisco about a block from the love-it-or-hate-it Federal Building by Morphosis) features units facing the streets to the east and west, while half of the units face the bamboo courtyard pictured here. A view from down on the walkway ...
Shows this space to be much softer than the street fronts. I could see the courtyard units being more desirable — and expensive — than the units on the streets.
This development of townhomes is located on a triangular site in Santa Barbara, California. The residences are oriented to this thoughtfully designed alleyway that looks like it could be a place for block parties and other social gatherings with the neighbors. Whatever the case, it is an amenity that arises from the density that is part of the development.
This last example, by Rhodes Architecture + Light, illustrates that even single-family houses can be created in developments to bring their benefits closer to those of multi-family buildings.
Anderson Gardens features four houses (three new, one renovated) that surround a large garden. Formerly a farmhouse, the land is now home to a few more houses than another suburban context might support.
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More inspiring architecture
Anderson Gardens features four houses (three new, one renovated) that surround a large garden. Formerly a farmhouse, the land is now home to a few more houses than another suburban context might support.
Next:
More inspiring architecture