Rowhouses

SPRING 2010

Northeastern University School of ArchitectureARCH 5110 Housing and Aggregation Studio

ROWHOUSES

SPRING 2010

ROWHOUSESNortheastern University School of ArchitectureARCH 5110 Housing and Aggregation Studio

EDITOR

SAM CHOI

STUDENT EDITORS

JACKIE MOSSMAN

SHAWN BOLANOS

SPRING 2010

ROWHOUSES

ARCH 5110 HOUSING AND AGGREGATION STUDIO

Northeastern University

School of Architecture

360 Huntington Avenue

151 Ryder Hall

Boston, MA 02115

617.373.8959

www.architecture.neu.edu

Copyright 2011 School of Architecture

Northeastern University

Designed by Paste in Place

Printed by Lulu

The work contained within this publication is drawn from the Spring 2010

Northeastern University School of Architecture ARCH 5110 Housing and Aggrega

tion Studio. All work was produced by fifth year architecture students, for whom the

focus of the semester was infill courtyard housing in metropolitan Boston.

STUDIO COORDINATORS

Tim Love and Sam Choi

FACULTY

Sam Choi, Michael Grogan, David Hacin, Alyson Tanguay

STUDENTS

Alexander Davis, Allison Browne, Ashley Hartshorn, Ashley Hopwood, Assia

Belguedj, Benjamin Hochberg, Bryan Allen, Chris Freda, Dan Adams, Dan Artiges,

Dan Belknap, Darien Fortier, Dennis Greenwood, Diana Lattari, Erica LeLievre, Julien

Jalbert, Lindsey Deschenes, Lucas Carriere, Nicole Fichera, Pamela Andrade, Samuel

Clement, Sara Laporte, Tim Loranger, Whitney Chicoine

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

Nicole Fichera

SPLIT ROWHOUSE

Dan Belknap, Julien Jalbert, Pamela Andrade

SKINNY ROWHOUSE

Assia Belguedj, Dan Adams, Darien Fortier, Lucas Carriere, Bryan Allen

PUSH-PULL ROWHOUSE

Chris Freda, Dan Artiges, Whitney Chicoine, Tim Loranger

STACKED DUPLEXES

Alexander Davis, Benjamin Hochberg, Sara Laporte

2 DUPLEXES OVER FLAT

Ashley Hopwood, Dennis Greenwood, Erica LeLievre, Nicole Fichera,

Samuel Clement

INTERLOCKING ROWHOUSEAllison Browne, Diana Lattari

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INTERLOCKING

SPLIT

PUSH-PULL

TWO DUPLEXES OVER FLAT

STACKED DUPLEXES

THREE SKINNY

1INTRODUCTION NICOLE FICHERA

Northeastern University School of Architecture housing studio

focuses on a different type of housing every year, from courtyard

housing to highrise multifamily buildings. When our instructors

told us that wed be designing rowhouses, I was excited. As

students in Boston, we know rowhouses: we have all lived in

them, walked by them, partied in them, chatted on their stoops

and relaxed on their rooftops. Architecture studios so often deal

with big buildings and largescale urban plansthis presented

a chance to think on a smaller scale, something tangible and

intimate. Design of housing focuses on something we all do every

day: live. We all live, and we all want to live well.

As students, this was our charge: to reinterpret the rowhouse for

modern urban life.

At the onset of the semester, our instructors presented six basic

diagrams for our rowhouse prototypes. Based on a parcel size of

20 x 60, the diagrams established a basic framework for interior

spatial organization and the adjacent parcels in relation to one

another.

Push/Pull required the deformation of the party wall between

two parcels, allowing units to expand and contract laterally to

create wider spaces. Interlocking rowhouses broke down the

2initial parcel division almost completely, allowing interior spaces to

wrap around each other and create complex spatial sequences.

The Split condition mandated a solution with spaces around

a central courtyard for light and air. The aptly named Skinny

rowhouse was formed from three narrowhouses sandwiched

into the width of two parcels.

The two following propositions seemed the most viable in the

context of todays market in that they pack three or four slightly

smaller residences into the designated parcels. Two Duplexes

over Flat proposed two vertical units sitting on top of one flat

unit at street level, and Stacked Duplex rowhouses were created

by two duplex units stacked on top of each other, for a total of

four units.

Each of these organizing concepts presented challenges and

opportunities. Some prototypes were ingrained with spatial

richness; others adapted easily to retail and accessibility issues;

and many had strict space constraints that required rigorous

planning and innovative thinking.

We began the studio with an indepth analysis of rowhouse

precedents, with examples ranging from the highly conceptual

work of MVRDV in Amsterdams Borneo Sporenburg to highend

rowhouse residences both new and renovated. We looked at

critical issues of core and stair placement, scale of living spaces,

development of the entry sequence, and relationships with

parking and the street.

To begin design we first developed a prototype of adjacent

parcels forming a single component. We then aggregated

components across an alley as four parcels, developing a section

that cut across a block from street front to street front, with a

service alley in between. Subsequently we repeated the long

sections to form an entire block, and invented corner conditions

for the idealized block created. At one point during the process

we exchanged units between peers, and aggregated both

sectional types together, first at the scale of a single block, then

as a nineblock grid. After designing these permutations in a

vacuum, we were ultimately asked to deploy our block strategy

on an actual site.

The site assigned was a large swath of underused, fragmented

blocks along Melnea Cass Boulevard. As a fringe condition

surrounded by gentrified South End rowhouse neighborhoods,

industrial megablocks, a fast moving multilane road, hospital

campus buildings, and lowincome housingthe site was highly

variable and required adaptive responses. Our urban strategies

had to negotiate this varied context, while maintaining the spatial

logic of our original twoparcel prototype. Our idealized block

plans deformed, and spacious units were condensed to integrate

ground level retail zones.

Thus the work produced at the precinct scale, block scale, and

unit scale was endlessly varied.

Although the process was trying and unusual, this was an

important project as students learning about housing and

3the ways in which cities struggle to move forward within the

constraints of the past. In cities such as Boston, New York,

Philadelphia, and Baltimore, rowhouses are commonplace.

Multiple generations of people love them. They make

neighborhoods feel unified and urban, create a comfortable sense

of human scale, and express the individuality of a single home.

Historically rowhouses signified progress and momentum

forward. In Bostons Back Bay and South End neighborhoods,

rowhouse builders were pioneers on land filled sea. Now

antique facades seem solid, placid, full of untold stories from a

genteel past. Rowhouses have been so often subdivided and

readapted to modern living that their rhythmic, uniform facades

hardly reflect their diverse and heterogeneous innards. But these

neighborhood relics are not always perfectly preserved and have

adapted to accommodate change over time.

It is essential to acknowledge that diversity exists within

rowhouses. Recognizing the natural evolution of living spaces

couldand shouldhave major implications in the creation of

new housing today.

As an individual expression in a cohesive urban framework,

the rowhouse gives us both a sense of collective and a place

to call our own. In a city such as Boston, the reinterpretation

of this multigenerational precedent results in the creation of

new housing types, ones that are undeniably modern, but also

intrinsically rooted in Boston.

5SPLITROWHOUSEDAN BELKNAP

JULIEN JALBERT

PAMELA ANDRADE

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SPLIT LIGHT HOUSEThe split rowhouse typology is a single family unit on a

single parcel, in which the indroduction of a courtyard defines

the type. The principle organizational strategy involved a

tectonically solid base to house service program and garage,

a heavily glazed public zone, and volume of private program

suspended above. A strict agenda of light was maintained

throughout the massing strategy.

DAN BELKNAP

INSTRUCTOR

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Unit SectionUnit Section

Third Floor Plan

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Second Floor PlanFirst Floor Plan

9Front Elevation Side Elevation Side Elevation

Street Elevation

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The precinct exists on a crucial point of connection

between the transit hubs of Ruggles Station, Dudley

Square, and Boston Medical Center. The amount of

bus traffic on each road was heavily considered in the

positioning of retail and scale of streets scapes.

Figure/Ground Diagram Urban Scale Response

Urban Transit Lines

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Interior View

Natural Light DiagramCorner Porch View

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Interior View

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Perspective

Typical Block Plan

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Solid block apartment type presents

problems regarding natural light,

ventilation and urban scale in a row

house neighborhood.

Split row house type is introduced.

Natural light and ventilation is improved

for upper stories but courtyard is dark

and cold. Facade also remains massive

in scale.

Masses are staggered in section and

rear mass is compressed. Light and

ventilation is brought further into

building and courtyard. Facade is

broken and entry porch is articulated.

Vertical circulation is placed around

courtyard and slab cuts bring light

further into building and basement.

Visual and acoustic connections are

created sectionally.

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Perspective

Site Section

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Aerial Perspective

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ADAPTABLE LIVINGUpon first designing a siteless rowhouse, this scheme placed

the public program towards the more active street, and the

private program towards the alley. An outdoor space was

placed in between the program, and the circulation was

situated around the void created. Once a site was given, the

overall parti of the design was modified to accommodate solar

orientation, where northfacing units would reorient public

program toward the rear. Public alley gardens were also placed

adjacent to the northfacing units on the block, which also

facilitated the reorientation of public vs. private program.

JULIEN JALBERT

INSTRUCTOR

ALYSON TANGUAY

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The design looks to create open (green) spaces at

three different scales that work in unison in order

to create an engaging urban residential site. First,

at the small scale of the unit, courtyards are either

shared between units or individualized for the row

house, allowing for more privatized exterior space for

inhabitants. Second, at the intermediate public scale,

contained gardens for each individual block, allows

for a sense of community within the block. Lastly the

large scale open space for the general public create

liveliness within a urban setting.

Figure/Ground DiagramExisting Green Space

Existing Urban Conditions and Zones

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Aerial Perspective

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Block Section

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Unit Section 2Unit Section 1

First Floor Plan Second Floor Plan

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Interior Perspective Interior Perspective

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CORES AS OBJECTSThe primary idea behind this design centered around

perceiving the cores as objects that one moves around once

inside. The cores attach themselves to a circulation bar

and float within three types of spaces: public, private, and

courtyard. Material is used to call out the cores so they can

be understood as a system within the rowhouse. The rooms

therefore read as transparent layers with sufficient glass to

emphasize this idea. The facade expresses the circulation bar

in wood that then catches the projected bay, meant to read as

the volume of the courtyard being pushed out to the street.

PAMELA ANDRADE

INSTRUCTOR

SAM CHOI

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Block Perspective

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Block Perspective

Block Elevation

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26 Site Analysis

Figure/Ground Diagram

At the urban scale, the blocks are designed as exten-

sions of the existing fabric. The periphery green

spaces function as buffers to heavy vehicular traffic.

A central greenspace with plaza extends out to the

other two block precincts in the form of green medi-

ans and landscaping to unify the entire site.

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Aerial Perspective

Street Section

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Interior Perspective - Kitchen Interior Perspective - Bedroom

Building Section Building Section

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Second Floor Plan

First Floor Plan

Third Floor Plan

Fourth Floor Plan

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Programmatic Axon

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SKINNYROWHOUSEASSIA BELGUEDJ

DAN ADAMS

DARIEN FORTIER

LUCAS CARRIERE

BRYAN ALLEN

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ECOURTYARD VARIETYThe skinny row house type accommodates a single family in

a typical urban condition of the South End neighborhood in

Boston, Massachusetts. Although a single unit is to function

as a singlefamily home, the typical unit type was designed

around a central courtyard privatizing the discovery and

experience of the living spaces towards the interior. Only at

two specific living spaces, does the house connect directly

with the public: on the roof courtyard and in the main living

room space. The organization of the unit around a central

courtyard allows for flexibility of unit types, where two units

can easily be paired to create a large center courtyard while still

maintaining an identity for a single unit type.

ASSIA BELGUEDJ

INSTRUCTOR

DAVID HACIN

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Unit Type A Unit Type B Unit Type C Unit Type D


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Fourth Floor Plan

Roof Plan

Third Floor Plan

Second Floor Plan

First Floor Plan

Sectional Perspective

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Site Diagrams

Site analysis of the existing urban conditions of the

neighborhood in regards to transportation (public and

private), land use and distribution of green spaces

gave for a particular aggregation strategy across

the entire site. The site is divided into three larger

blocks containing smaller and more intimate blocks

within them. The aggregation within the three blocks

is to encourage a sense of community amongst the

residents, with placement of public spaces for leisure

and recreation across the many smaller blocks.


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Aerial Perspective

Block Sectional Perspective

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EURBAN SUBURBThe inspiration for this design came from the phenomena of

the suburban lifestyle. Freedom of the outdoors and access

to exterior living space lead to the question of how to make

this possible in an urban setting. The most logical answer

was to utilize space on the roof which typically goes unused.

Combining the Skinny Rowhouse typology with a centralized

stair core and access to the roof resulted in a balanced

programmatic distribution of space. The stair simultaneously

maintains privacy along the vertical axis for the bedrooms on

either side and brings guests to the public space on the top

floors.

DAN ADAMS

INSTRUCTOR

MICHAEL GROGAN

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Site Diagram - Green Space

The urban aggregation strategy is based upon two

main goalscreating density and encouraging urban

neighbors. By providing rooftop yards, residents will

have the same opportunity to develop relationships

with neighbors just as residents do in a suburban

context. This is made possible by providing a high

level of dense aggregation.

The existing bike path remains to be used as a

termination point for pedestrian walkways. Two formal

green spaces were also added in order to balance

density with open green spaces.

Site Diagram - Major/Minor Axis

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Aerial Perspective

Street Elevation

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Street View Perspective


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Second Floor Plan

First Floor Plan

Third Floor Plan

Fourth Floor Plan

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Master Bedroom Perspective

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Zones Bedrooms/Private Space Core Space Public Space


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Interior Perspective

Interior Perspective - Living Space

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EBLURRING BOUNDARIES The organization of the skinny rowhouse unit aims to address

the challenges of lighting the center of the unit and creating an

appropriate connection between exterior and interior. Therefore,

private bedrooms were placed into two boxes, both opening

outward to enjoy light and views from either end of the unit.

The negative space between the two boxes became the

public space.

Two unit variations resulted from flipping the orientation of

the unit from back to front. One unit type had a 2 story street

front while the other had a 3 story street front allowing for a

distinction in composition between major and minor streets

and streets bordering green spaces. The major streets were

composed of the taller units repeated rhythmically with the

facade designed in a way to excentuate the skinny quality and

height of the unit. Minor streets and those bordering southern

green spaces were arranged with an AB pattern that allows

light to penetrate deeper into the site.

DARIEN FORTIER

INSTRUCTOR

MICHAEL GROGAN

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Street Perspective

Street Section

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Unit A Section

Unit B Section

Concept Diagram

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Second Floor Plan

First Floor Plan

Unit B

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Third Floor Plan

Unit A

Third Floor Plan

Second Floor Plan

First Floor Plan

Unit A Axonometric

Unit B Axonometric

52 Figure/Ground Diagram

The overall site strategy was meant to extend the

South End quality into Roxbury and provide a buffer

between the residents and the noise from Melnea

Cass Ave. Therefore the block strategy of the south

was repeated throughout the site, a green belt was

enhanced bordering Melnea Cass, and the block

oretation of the eastern end of the site was flipped to

divert attention away from the large obtrusive existing

buildings to the east, and instead create an axis that

makes the hospital tower and new park focal points of

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Site Analysis

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Site Plan

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EMIXED INCOMEThe Roxbury site, unique in both its typology and

socioeconomic class became an area of architectural and

cultural resolution in this proposed site planning strategy. The

presence of lower income/authority housing was addressed

both at the level of the site plan and at the scale of the single

unit. A varying number of units across the site, a mixture

of moderate and luxury, as well as retail all conjoin in

an appropriately buffered and scaled resolution, one that is

architecturally conscience through a common facade and

massing strategy. A landscape element (both greenery and

hardscaping features) intersects the blocks at their highest

density as an urban relief. At their smaller scale, these spaces

become shared, uniting, private, and public elements.

LUCAS CARRIERE

INSTRUCTOR

ALYSON TANGUAY

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Aerial View

Block Section

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58 Site Concept Diagram Figure/Ground Diagram

In the adjacent comparison between existing

conditions and proposed conditions; both levels of

the site strategy are illustrated. The site plan, coding

the differing unit types, reinforces this strategy at the

scale of the block and the individual housing unit.

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Aerial Perspective

Existing Low IncomeProposed Green Space Existing Row Houses Proposed Housing

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Elevations (Moderate 1) Elevations (Luxury 1) Elevations (Luxury 3)

Building Section (Luxury 3) Building Section (Moderate 1)

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Second Floor Plan

First Floor Plan

First Floor Plan

Second Floor Plan

(Luxury 3)

(Luxury 3)

(Moderate 1)

(Moderate 1)

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ELIVING IN DIFFERENT WAYSNo two apartments are lived in the same way, but in a row

house development an architect/urban planner must rely on

some amount of repetition. This scheme attempted to adapt

three identical "skinny" parcels for two types of residents

singles and families. The "skinny" parcel were combined with

a duplex to create a variety of unit types including flats, family

duplex, family "skinny" and "bachlor/bachelorette. This project

aims to develop units for different modes of living Flat,

Family and Bachelor/Bachelorette.

BRYAN ALLEN

INSTRUCTOR

SAM CHOI

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First Floor Plans

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65Street Elevation

Alley Elevation

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Master Plan

Sectional Elevation

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When we began to aggregate the units across the site,

it was helpful to analyze the local area to determine

important patterns and thoroughfares.

After the first version of the masterplan (top right), the

second version begins to address the rift in the urban

fabric created by Melnea Cass Blvd (see bottom left).

Figure Ground/Site Specific AnalysisUrban Site Analysis

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68 Unit Interior View - in Stair-wallUnit Interior View - From Bedroom to Living

Unit Interior View - Living Room

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69Block Study - Ground Plan

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Unit Axons

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Block Study Long Elevation

Block Study Perspective

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71Master Plan Aerial Perspective

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PUSH-PULLROWHOUSECHRIS FREDA

DAN ARTIGES

WHITNEY CHICOINE

TIM LORANGER

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MAXIMUM EXPOSUREThe interlocking rowhouse strategy provided me with an

opportunity to explore a different type of living experience.

The nature of the interlocking typology allows units distinct

advantages over the typical rowhouse typology. First,

rowhouses are not bound to the typical fronttoback layout

which minimizes facade exposure and limits floor plan layout.

Interlocking units can push and pull in various ways to allow for

a more comfortable living arrangment while maximizing facade

exposure. Second, the interlocking strategy allows for units

and their occupants to interact in ways otherwise not possible.

The interlocking of units creates overlapping of volumes and

opportunity for visual and physical access to shared spaces.

CHRIS FREDA

INSTRUCTOR

DAVID HACIN

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78 Concept Diagram Mixed Use Units

The logic of shared space and interactivity from

the interlocking townhouse unit was amplified and

applied throughout the site. This presented many op-

portunities for different qualities and sizes of spaces

utilized by residents of the units, blocks, develop-

ment and city as a whole.

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80 Section


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Third Floor Plan

Unit Section Courtyard Elevation Front Elevation

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PUSHED PARTY WALLThe PushPull Unit is based on the lateral movement of the

party wall separating two parcels. The strategy for this design

began with two extended service cores. The party wall wraps

around these cores creating large living spaces at the center

of the parcels. The push of this volume is accentuated within

the adjacent unit by negative space produced from the floor

pulling away from the extending volume. Each unit in a pair of

parcels is given a larger extended living space.

DAN ARTIGES

INSTRUCTOR

SAM CHOI

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Concept Diagram

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Site Plan

Sectional Model

The strategy for the site was to create a green envelope

for the aggregated units that connects the two large

park spaces while surrounding and separating the

neighborhood of aggregated units from the major streets

surrounding the site.

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Parti-walls and cores First Floor Second Floor Facade

Building Section

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Second Floor Plan

First Floor Plan

Third Floor Plan

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FLEXIBLE PARTYWALLThe nature of the pushpull rowhouse type allows for the

designer to take advantage of a flexible party wall. In my

design, there is a shared zone between two row houses

where the party wall undulates back and forth. This provides

the opportunity for certain rooms to get larger where they

need to, and for the circulation space to take up less space in

the individual units, by sharing one zone. It also provides an

opportunity for a shared light well to bring natural daylight into

the center of the units. The party wall is thus semitransparent

at points to allow for natural light to penetrate into both

units, from above and from the front and rear facades, while

maintaining proper privacy between the units.

WHITNEY CHICOINE

INSTRUCTOR

ALYSON TANGUAY

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Concept Diagram

First Floor PlanBasement Floor Plan

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Building Section

Second Floor Plan Third Floor Plan

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Site Plan Site Diagram

The site design is centered around the two main streets,

Washington Street and Harrison Avenue. These streets

are treated separately, Washington representing the

commercial center of the area, and Harrison as a green-

way-type boulevard. The bike path is spread through the

site, and various parks widen the path.

Block Elevation

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Typical Block Plan

Street Section

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DOUBLE FRONT BLOCKThe push/pull typology allows the designer to create unusually

large rooms for a rowhouse by having the ability to shift and

abstract the normally straight parti wall. In doing so this unit

became volumetrically symmetrical. The living room was on

the front for one unit, while on the back for the other and so

forth for each room in the unit. The only aspect which was

not symetrical was the entry sequence. Each unit had a main

entry in the front with a car port in the rear. Because of this

double front situation the ally was widened and turned into a

pedestrian pathway with a large island running the length of

each block in the middle of the parking lanes. This creates a

figure ground contrary to that of the existing street condition on

the opposite side of the proposed line of the rowhouse.

TIM LORANGER

INSTRUCTOR

SAM CHOI

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First Floor Plan

Third Floor Plan

Second Floor Plan

Fourth Floor Plan

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Push/Pull Front Elevation Skinny Elevation

Block A Street Section

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Push/Pull Back Elevation

98 Master Plan

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Washington Street is the primary retail center on the

site and this was continued with the placement of

most retail units along Washington. Harrison is a less

traveled resedential street which becomes a spine for

the residential streets to branch off of. The park was

moved from one end of the site to the other so that it

was closer to the exisiting school and the bulk of the

resedential units on site.

Site Analysis Site Analysis

Site Analysis

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Model Perspective

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Model Perspective

Model Perspective

Model Perspective

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Perspective

Block B Elevation

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Terrace (Roof) Perspective

Block A Section

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103Block B Section

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Street Perspective

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STACKED DUPLEXESALEXANDER DAVIS

BENJAMIN HOCHBERG

SARA LAPORTE

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DEVIANT ROWHOUSEWhat is a Rowhouse?

Does it repeat over and over again?

Does it share a constant parti wall?

Does it keep a constant street edge?

Throughout the development of this project, at both unit and

site scales, there was a constant idea to test the boundaries

of what a neighborhood of rowhouses should and can be.

Although the design scale varies throughout, the concept

remains the same. At both unit and site scales, the pedestrian

travels along a threading circulation path that stitches spaces

together (apartments or blocks). This resulting corridor ends

in either an exterior terrace or large recreational area. The

resulting design, although deviant from normal Rowhouse

design, explores the possibilities of the rowhouse archetype.

ALEXANDER DAVIS

INSTRUCTOR

MICHAEL GROGAN

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At the site scale, the varying blocks are treated very

similar to the various apartment units at the unit

scale. A pedestrian corridor threads its way through

the site much like the main staircase threads through

each rowhouse. This pedestrian corridor meanders

through the site connecting each block with impor-

tant existing buildings, proposed commercial space

and large recreational areas. As this corridor passes

through blocks, open spaces are created that allow for

various social and recreational activities to take place.

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Site Plan

Street Perspective Street Perspective

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Section Model with Pedestrian Corridor

Street Section

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Block Plan

Stitched Open Space Threaded Pedestrian Corridor Automobile Traffic Hierarchy

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113Fourth Floor PlanThird Floor Plan


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PENETRATING MASSThe row house is designed for the mass to interact with

exterior space. The mass is penetrated by exterior spaces to

allow both the ground floor and upper floor apartments their

own front door and access from both the alley and the

street.

Portions of the building volume protrude to allow for private

exterior spaces. When these spaces interact with their

environment on the buildings facade, it results in shadow.

Futhermore, when they interact with street level, they create

a mediating zone between the sidewalk and the semiprivate

entry.

BENJAMIN HOCHBERG

INSTRUCTOR

ALYSON TANGUAY

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Building Types Diagram Urban Concept Diagram - Two sides joined with a pin

The site has three conditions of street: a long busy

street that acts as a barrier, main South End streets,

and smaller interior streets. The three types of

buildings respond to each of these conditions. Tying

them together and uniting the new development with

the urban fabric is a border park.

Public Space

Live/work Duplex Over Retail

Duplex Over Retail Flat

Stacked Duplexes

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Detail Block Plan

Street Elevation

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Street Section


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Street Elevation

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"L" SECTIONThe stacked duplex unit type incorporates four distinct units

over a 40 x 60 parcel. While typically the units are stacked

above one another, this design takes advantage of an

Lshaped section to accommodate circulation requirements

and organize program spaces within the unit. To reach the top

units one enters through a thick central core. This zone houses

both the circulation for each unit as well as the service spaces,

and modulates the living spaces for each unit. Upon entering

each unit one arrives in an informal living area, and passes

through the kitchen and dining areas to reach the formal

living area on an upper level. The bedrooms are located on the

upper floors.

SARA LAPORTE

INSTRUCTOR

SAM CHOI

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Site Plan

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Typical Block Plan

Block Perspective Elevation

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124 Figure/Ground Diagram

As the site lies at the intersection of several

programmatic zones including a residential zone

to the north, institutional to the east, and primarily

industrial to the south and southwest the question

of edges was important. A landscaped buffer

was placed along Melnea Cass, while the typical

block plan was altered to avoid creating additional

intersections along Melnea Cass. Because of its

location, the site is also surrounded by irregular

geometries. Where these geometries are reconciled,

pocket parks are placed that relate to the

neighborhood on a smaller scale, while the existing

park to the north relates to the larger community.

Stacked duplexes are placed along the main

thoroughfares, while interlocking units are placed

along the north to south connecting one way streets.

To help keep traffic off of these streets, a two way

north-south connector is located on the eastern end

of the site.

Commercial program fills the southern most blocks to

relate to their industrial and commercial context.

Existing Vehicular Circulation Proposed Vehicular Circulation

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Existing Green Space Proposed Green Space

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Unit Aggregation Diagram


STACKED DUPLEX: ONE PARCEL: 2 UNITS

INTERLOCKING: TYPICAL UNIT: 2 UNITS

STACKED DUPLEX: RETAIL UNIT: 3 UNITS / RETAIL

STACKED DUPLEX: TYPICAL UNIT: 4 UNITS

AGGREGATION UNIT TYPES

EXISTING BUILDINGS

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126 Third Floor Plan

Programmatic Diagram


Unit Concept Diagram

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127Fourth Floor Plan

Unit Circulation and Spatial Separation

Fifth Floor Plan Unit Perspectives

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Unit Perspectives

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2 DUPLEXES OVER FLATASHLEY HOPWOOD

DENNIS GREENWOOD

ERICA LELIEVRE

NICOLE FICHERA

SAMUEL CLEMENT

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BLENDING TYPESThe idea for my unit and master plan is to blend families

and working singles. The unit plan, while balanced in square

footage, has more bedrooms with less living space for the

working singles, and fewer bedrooms and more living space

for the families.

The blocks on the North edge of the site feature the family

units, blocks on the South edge of the site feature multitenant

units, and the blocks in between feature combination units.

Live work units line the blocks along Melnea Cass.

The green space on the site is a combination of two large

parks, one for families and one for working singles, and a buffer

zone between housing and the busy Melnea Cass Boulevard.

ASHLEY HOPWOOD

INSTRUCTOR

ALYSON TANGUAY

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Aerial Perspective

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Perspective - Family Park

View From Second Floor Balcony

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View From Third Floor Balcony

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Concept Diagram - Housing Types

The master plan is arranged according to major

thoroughfares and existing neighborhoods. Family

housing is close to the housing developments in the

Northwest edge of the site while multi-tenant housing

is close to the major businesses and commercial

areas lining the site. Major pedestrian roads respond

to the parks and retail areas of the site.

Family Units Multi-tenant Units Live Work Units

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Perspective of Multi-Tenant Park

Site Analysis - Vehicular Traffic Site Analysis - Pedestrian Traffic

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Third Floor Plan

Street Perspective from Melnea Cass Boulevard.

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VOID + WEDGEThe project explores the typology of the rowhouse (specifically

duplexes over a flat) by removing party walls, a typically

defining characteristic. A void replaces the party wall and

becomes an exterior zone of pushing and pulling private

spaces. This creates a reciprocal relationship between the units

while allowing light and ventilation to reach the flat below.

This void space then becomes a flexible zone in the

rowhouse as it can be manipulated to adjust to site

geometries. A wedge shaped variation of the design allows

a strip of rowhouses to curve along the block. In a similar

approach, wedge shaped greenspaces are used on the larger

urban scale to regulate city block geometries.

DENNIS GREENWOOD

INSTRUCTOR

ALLYSON TANGUAY

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Aerial Perspective

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Street Perspective

Block Section

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Site Diagram

The site seeks to bridge the divide created by

Washington Street while providing a buffer from the

Melnea Cass thoroughfare. First floor retail units line

pedestrian friendly Washington Street and a bike path

and row of streetside trees skirt Melnea Cass.

Rowhouse variations were created to satisfy the needs

of the site and the principles of the design. The

greenspaces are designed to regulate the city blocks,

while creating a focal point within the site.

Residential

(3 Units per Parcel)

Retail Residential

53 Mixed Units

Commercial

Approx. 200,000 SF

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Concept Diagram


Wedge Shaped Unit Variation

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Street Perspective

Block Section

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Street Perspective

Block Elevation

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Unit Section 1


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147Third Floor Plan

Unit Section 2 Sectional Diagram Unit Elevation

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DOUBLE WIDEThe ground floor unit is a flat that takes up two parcels, and

so becomes 40 foot wide. Above it are two duplexes, each

20 wide. These three units share a 14 wide central core that

holds all of the bathrooms, kitchens, and closet spaces. The

residual spaces on either side hold the living spaces, such as

the bedrooms and living rooms.

ERICA LELIEVRE

INSTRUCTOR

MICHAEL GROGAN

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Section Model

Block Elevation

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Zoning Diagram

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The site is split into three different zones, each of which has its own interior

community open space.

Retail space is spread throughout the site in two different ways. The first, which

can be seen along Washington street, is the exterior facing retail meant for the

general public. Here the retail would be located on the first floor with duplexes

above. The second type of retail is the interior facing retail which is located

inside each of the zones. This would be community space for the people who live in

the area. This interior facing retail has two different unit types. In the first type the

retail is on the ground floor with the duplex units above. In the second type, seen

on the corners, community space happens on all three floors.

Figure Ground Diagram Unit Types Diagram

153

Street Section


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The interior-facing retail space has a large buffer zone between the street and the

open space that becomes a walking arcade. This connects all of the retail space

and also becomes a part of the pathways that connect the corner community

spaces.

154

Perspective

Section Type 2

The open spaces inside

the zones also become

program. In this example

the playground is sunken

into the ground, eliminating

the need for fencing.

Section Type 1

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Perspective

Block Diagram or Unit Diagram

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Section Type 2

Section Type 1

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Longitudinal SectionLateral Section


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157Third Floor Plan

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Interior Perspective

Corner Elevation Front Elevation

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THICK ZONE COREThis project is based on a basic unit type of two duplexes

over a flat. The main concept is the expansion of the party

wall between the two vertical duplex units into a thick zone,

which contains all of the closed poche functions for the entire

building: primarily circulation, bathrooms, kitchens, closets,

laundry, et cetera.

Attached to the thick zone on each side are closed bedroom

boxes, offset at split levels. Thus, all of the private functions of

the units (service and sleeping) occur in the closed volumes

of the bedrooms and the thick central core. The public living

spaces (kitchens, dining rooms and living rooms) are then

formed by the open interstitial spaces between these closed

elements.

NICOLE FICHERA

INSTRUCTOR

SAM CHOI

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Edge Block Elevation Axonometric

Thick Zone Applied to Block Facade

The diagram at right depicts the unit concept

as applied to the block. The central thick zone

within the unit is conceived as something which is

experientialyou are required at all times to interact

with it and pass through it to get from space to

space. By applying that concept to the front of the

aggregated block, a thick facade zone is formed

which mediates between the private world of the unit

interior and the public life of the street.

The elevation is conceived in terms of the block as a

series of carved layers and frames with a projecting

living room volume. The layers make the thick zone

inhabitable in the same way as the core.

On a larger scale, the concept of a thick zone is used

to form a plan based on superblocks. The size of

the blocks responds to the character of the site. It

is a part of the South End, which has a fine-grained

rowhouse texture, but it is additionaly a fringe

condition, surrounded by strips of industrial and

medical buildings. Thus, a modified version of the

block elevation incorporates a block-size unifying

frame element, and has less projections (which serve

to break down scale). Thus, the edge walls of the

super-block are unified and read as larger scale, and

the interiors of the blocks respond to the residential,

individual rowhouses.

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Site Plan

Block ElevationStreet Perspective

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Section Option 2: PACKED CENTRAL CORE

thickened party wall containing poche spaces [wet +

dry], leaving side spaces as public rooms

Section Option 1: SPLIT LEVEL

increased spatial complexity and depth, diagonal

relationship of public and private

HYBRID RESULT

thickened party wall containing poche spaces; private

and public spaces offset

LIVING SPACE

BEDROOMCORE

Organizational Concept Diagram

163Axonometric Diagram

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Unit Section


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The inhabitable core is modified by a series of additive and subtractive operations.

Spaces are carved out of the thick zone for spaces such as bathrooms, kitchens,

and circulation. In other cases, the core expands, sticking out into the room with

balconies and fireplaces. The nature of a rowhouse is to have long, narrow spaces;

by making the core inhabitable and letting it divide spaces by pushing out, the

rooms can be divided into more appropriate proportional dimensions. In the flat

unit, the core breaks off into smaller pieces, allowing a kitchen space in the center.

In all three units, the user constantly moves in and out of the core, using it as

circulation and inhabitable space. Gaps in the third floor allow the core to read

as an uninterrupted wall rising through the space. The separation of the bedroom

volumes on each end creates a dramatic open vertical space above the dining room,

bringing light into the middle of the unit with a skylight.


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Exploded Axon

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THE MISSING LINKThe goal of the housing project was to create an ultra

pedestrian friendly master plan that would draw pedestrians

from the Boston Medical Center west of the site as well as

pedestrians from the apartment complexes to the north.

In order to do this a hierarchy of open spaces is arranged

to tempt public use. To draw users from the apartments a

baseball/recreational field was placed at the Northern most

edge of the site. Likewise a vast stretch of landscape tempts

the Mass Ave travelers to enter the south west portion of

the site. These open spaces are attached to a single road

going through the site about which smaller open spaces are

arranged to encourage travel to the commercial center along

Harrison Ave.

SAMUEL CLEMENT

INSTRUCTOR

ALYSON TANGUAY

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Aerial Perspective

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Block Plan

Block Elevation

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Building Section

Building Section

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Unit Concept Diagram

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Second Floor Plan

First Floor Plan

Third Floor Plan

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Concept Diagram Building Types Diagram

The pedestrians paths of movement along the center

road and the bike path along Melnea Cass draw trav-

elers to rows of commercial development (grey) along

Washington St. and Harrison Ave. Staggered blocks

are generated to widen the alley as a second row

house type (Gate Unit, in black) negotiates this shift.

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Street Perspective

Street Section

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INTERLOCKING ROWHOUSEALLISON BROWNE

DIANA LATTARI

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GREEN CORRIDORSAt the unit scale the architecture take the attitude that one

can design with specific lifestyles in mind. At the block scale

yards are defined by sectional variation in order to create

thresholds into the different apartments. Raised green space

is given over to the street creating more private outdoor spaces

behind. At the scale of the city three green corridors are main

throughfares and retail is introduced to respond to specific

conditions on the site, such as the institutions surrounding it.

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INSTRUCTOR

ALYSON TANGUAY

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Site Plan

Block Elevation

179Concept Diagram

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Site Analysis - Land Use Zoning and Regulating Lines


Our site sits on a transitionary area in the urban fabric. It is bordered by Melnea

Cass Boulevard which acts as a division between regular and irregular road types.

It is also at a place where many different types of zoning come together.

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Second Floor Plan

First Floor Plan

Third Floor Plan

Fourth Floor Plan

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TWO WIDEThe interlocking prototype of row housing consists of two

units that share one parcel. The units interlock volumetrically,

wrapping around each other across the parcel and each

consisting of three volumes. The dynamic shift in shape

and size of the volumes changes in response to the parcel

dimensions. The top volume holds private program, the middle

public, and the ground a mix of both. All circulation through

the units is located in the center of the parcel along the party

wall that separates the two units. Additionally, each unit has

an entrance from the street as well as access to a back alley,

which also accomodates parking for each unit.

DIANA LATTARI

INSTRUCTOR

SAM CHOI

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Fourth Floor Plan

PLAN


First Floor Plan

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Second Floor Plan

Third Floor Plan

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Typical Unit Front Elevation Corner Unit Front Elevation Corner Unit Side Elevation

Sectional Model Through Typical Interlocking Units

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186 Typical Block Parti Diagram

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Street Perspective

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The site is bound by prominent existing roads. By extending

these roads through the site, I was able to create a grid,

broken into three zones, within which I placed the city

blocks. The size and shape of these blocks picks up on

nearby existing urban fabric patterning. A belt of greenspace

acts as a buffer along Melnea Cass Boulevard in each of the

zones.

Figure/Ground Diagram Site Analysis: Hierarchy of Greenspace

Site Analysis: Major and Minor Streets

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There are two different unit types included in my aggregation: the interlocking unit type (below) and the stacked duplex unit

type (right). These types yielded multiple unit variations, some accomodating retail space on the ground floor or adjusting to

meet a block corner condition. The varying unit types were then used to create patterning in the block schemes as well as

the overall site aggregation.

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In addition to identifying each dif-

ferent unit used in the aggregation,

these diagrams also discuss the

program of each layout as well as

public and private areas, with green

representing the most private of

spaces and yellow representing the

most public.

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190 Site Section Through Typical Interlocking Units

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Block Plan

191Site Section Through Corner Interlocking Units

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ROWHOUSES

ARCH 5110 HOUSING AND AGGREGATION

SPRING 2010

The projects in this volume were designed

as prototypical residential types and city

block plans by fourth-year students in the

undergradu ate architecture program at

Northeastern University in Boston.

Rowhouses

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