Student Work
First floor
Second floor
Title
Jim Vlock First Year Building Project: Team A 2017
Project Description
Our proposal—a house designed for people who are currently homeless or at risk of being so—connects comfortable, modest living space with the daily wonders of the natural environment. Located in New Haven’s Hill neighborhood, the house has two units: a ground floor, one bedroom apartment; and a two story, two bedroom apartment for a family. For each household, a pair of unique pyramidal skylights provides the setting for an ever-changing spectacle of light, air, and sky. This imbues a resident’s quotidian life with an awareness of time and nature—all while maintaining the privacy for a home sited in a dense urban area. Little of this interior spectacle is suggested from the exterior; the wood shingle-clad building adopts the pitched roof of a traditional New England saltbox house. Each unit is connected to its own green space by a wood deck, used for outdoor playing and socializing. The northeast corner of the site contains a community garden, a space for meeting, learning, and growing with neighbors.