The Eastside Cohousing Community
Our Final Presentation in Multi-Page PDF
Final Presentation.pdf
After our first review, we have made some changes to the site plan and have developed each of our types of housing. Hope you enjoy.
Thanks for looking at our stuff.
Nick's Reflections on Second Mid-Review
On the whole I was really happy with how our second review went. Many of the issues brought to our attention in the first review were covered in the second. We were able to offer much more in terms of actual housing and common house design this time which I felt brought more unity to the overall scheme.
The reviewers really seemed to focus in on our site plan which I felt was great, but at the same time it left a smaller portion of time for them to really focus in on our individual design plans for our buildings. While I feel we have a lot of good advice on how to tune up our overall layout, I wasn't given really any feedback on my floor plan and design for my individual single family home.
They really seemed to be more interested in what type of outdoor spaces we are creating. The relationships between the clusters and the common house, our parking ideas, and integrating the aesthetic of the barn common house with the more contemporary look of me and Chris' units.
I think that for the final review we need to do a few very critical things: Integrate our overall design aesthetic, put more emphasis and detail on our sustainable ideas, formulate and design clusters that work well with one another, define each of the separate spaces within our site.
The Eastside Cohousing Community
This is the wiki page of the STREET TEAM ( Matt, Chris, Nick).
We have compiled all of our information and drawings into pdf format 11 X 17 pages which can be viewed below. Please enjoy.
Also, if you click on the links on top of the pages, you can view the full size version. Its recommended.
Introduction + Sustainability Ideas
Helpful Links to some Sustainabilty Ideas:
PV Powered - A company located in Bend which specializes in PV Systems mainly the inverters
Headwaters Resources- America's largest distributer of combustable products including FLY ASH
Rainwater Catchment- A small page which is very helpful for understanding how water catchment works
Site Plan
Sections
The Experience
Diagrams
Matt's Reflections on the Mid Review
Going into the review, I felt pretty good about our design. However, I still knew that there were some things that we hadn't really thought about to
much that was brought up in the review. For example, because of our location of the parking in relation to the houses, the distance inbetween would be too great for any average mother. Another critique was that the spacing of the houses themselves in their sub-groups was too spread out and it ressembled the suburban houses surrounding the site.
In my opinion, the video conference was a great idea and gave our team a lot of important information for moving forward on the design. Ater presenting our sustainable ideas, I was enthused to see that the Field's and Jay were excited about what they were seeing.
I think we are heading on a good path to making a sustainable cohousing community that works for the Field's and Bend.
Density Diagram
Creation of Spaces betwee Houses
Campus Cross Section 1/8' = 1' 0"
Section Image
Chris' Reflection Review:
The review from the professional panel, as well as the Fields' video conference, was very beneficial for our cohousing project. The pinup critique we recieved really emphasized us to sharpen our concepts and further develope our cluster scheme that our master plan has. The reviewers had us consider the following elements while designing the next phase of our project: responding to the natural attractions of the site (the creek, forested area, farm, etc.), responding to the man-made elements of the site (pettigrew, windrider, suburbia, etc.), creating better in-between spaces along the paths and between the clusters, and to develope the main garden space of the site. The Fields' video conference was as well informational and greatly beneficial to the production of the cohousing group. The Fields enjoyed the idea of our clustered grouping of homes, but would like to see the units change from single family housing to multi-family and condo type living. I am very excited from all of the advice and information we have gained through the reviews, and cannot wait to implement them in our next phase of design.
LLC Reading Room- A safe and protected reading area in the middle of the common space of the LLC
Areas of concentration that our clusters should better respond to Creating better in-between spaces along paths
Chris' Reflection on the second midterm
The second midterm was very helpful in starting to finalize our site planning and unit layouts. Most of the critique was focused on our site planning and helped us conceptualize and understand all of the functions of the site. One insight was to tighten up all of the spaces and unit layouts throughout the entire site. By condensing our site, it takes care of a lot of the blank spaces in between units, as well as creates a closer community in general. When we condense the sight, the central lawn will also take on a different size and shape, thus changing some of our design ideas of the main green space. Few critiques were made of the units as well, other than me flipping one of the units' layouts I don't have to touch much. One thing about my units that I'd like to improve, though, is the facade and the function of two units put together as a whole, rather than two individual units.
Nick's Reflections
I feel really good about where my group is in our design phase. We definitely have some good ideas going but by the same measure there is plenty of room for change. I feel like the review was very constructive, our group has a lot of things to work on and a lot of good directions to go.
Our reviewers really seemed to like our idea of spreading the clusters out on the perimeter and creating a wide central field and common house. However they felt our scheme needed a little variation between the clustered communities. The single family cottages all seemed a little too common and ordinary.
I personally really want to stick with this idea of clusters but experiment with some alternative building materials to mark the community within the region. We want this cohousing community to stand for something and show its unique initiative to create different more personal living communities. There are also a lot of sustainable ideas we have floating around our project that need a bit more detail and thought as we venture into this next phase.
If we work with all the feedback we got from the reviewers on Monday and start to add a bit more detail to the architecture of this community I know we can have a more concrete and practical design in our next review.
Diagrams
Section
Comments (6)
Nancy Cheng said
at 9:10 pm on Oct 22, 2007
When I first met with your group, I was a little worried that with only three undergraduates you would have a hard time keeping up. But by the next meeting, you had come up with a very workable idea - the three mini-clusters organized around an axis to common house and Pettigrew Street-oriented buildings. I was glad that you were able to continue that trend by creating very clear graphics, and posting in a well-organized way. Most of the critiques I heard were about sharpening the response to the different edges and more clearly defining relationships and spatial character within the complex, they weren't worried about not seeing an idea.
If you get a chance, please add some site context to your diagrams. Without at least the property lines or street edges, I thought the white boxes were just blank text. Even better if you could add a figure-ground diagram.
Blaise Cacciola said
at 11:13 pm on Oct 22, 2007
I can appreciate the views expressed regariding low cost housing. Remember that solar alone will not do it; think of repetative and modular units and simplicity of design and construction. Find some low cost models around our state and find the common theme. Remember that local trades and the market weigh heavily on cost of construction as does size, volume and simple square footage. X sf x Y $/sf = cost of the building. PV's for example are a great symbol of sustainability but they are expensive and have a long rate of return. Other sustainable design strategies like solor hot water, insulation and daylighting are relatively inexpensive but save dollars quickly. Also, shared walls b/t units will save dollars. See Team Lars and Team Dell for comments on parking. The buildings to the north are really close to the property line - allow some buffer b/t your development and your neighbors.
Blaise Cacciola said
at 11:18 pm on Oct 22, 2007
I like the neighborhood pattern - translate into something a bit more formal, maybe more tightly clustered and join buildings if you all are really after the low cost model.
Misti Cardin said
at 5:50 pm on Oct 23, 2007
Hi!
Yes...affordable housing is a must especially in Bend. I agree with Blais's comment on solar/shared walls, and construction costs; try looking at wind (fast payback, efficient) and/or geothermal, which is a definite resource here in Central Oregon. Or, group the PV arrays into larger units to eliminate the number of inverters needed (like on the common building roof, or incorporate with some covered parking structure). Flyash slows cure times which makes it undesireable in the winter, but good in the summer, just fyi. Take a look at advanced framing with FSC lumber (locally produced thru Warm Springs), AAC, stawbale, etc. A big thing to lower construction costs is to get the owner involved, perhaps by mandatory 'sweat equity'...see Habitat for Humanity for examples. In terms of long term affordability, durable material selection and passive solar design is the way to go. Heating is the largest load here...geothermal heat is 400% more efficient than standard heat pump systems and can be linked between structures.
...i've been cut off...more to come...
Misti Cardin said
at 5:50 pm on Oct 23, 2007
Regarding the site design, I may not be getting the full picture without any annotations, but here's some comments: I like the cluster idea but would like to see a variety of types of outdoor spaces. Think of activities that happen; ulitimate frisbee, reading a book, walking/jogging, yoga, naps, BBQ's...etc. All require different size/styles/privacy/etc. Also, I'd like to see some pedestrian connection to the adjacent sites...break down those fences between subdivisions and create some connectivity. These inhabitants won't just stay on the Field's property, they'll be walking down to the market at 15th and Reed Mkt. or jogging over to Pilot Butte via the trail along 15th, and it's nice to not have to take the main roads to get there. Last note, and i feel this is huge for affordable housing, is what are you providing that makes people less dependant on their cars? Can they live and work here? Shared cars? Are there safe inviting pedestrian connections to local amenities and public transportation? Are you planning to provide any amenities (groceries, video store, etc?) that could fulfil this need in this area?
Good job and Good Luck!
Misti
Colony said
at 2:25 am on Nov 12, 2007
Hey Street Team! Let me first say you have some really great graphics. Through the work that you've uploaded i was able to understand fairly easily the main concepts of your scheme. I think some of your strongest design aspects are your housing clusters and the space the clusters create. You have created an opportunity through the arrangement of your houses that gives the future members of your community an extra incentive to live there. The question i have is, what are you doing with that space? How are you developing it and what is its purpose? It's also great that you are focusing on affordable housing. I can see the economics of the shared wall units. What other aspects are you considering to make your houses more affordable? Also, how many units do you have? I also think you all are doing a good job of incorporating sustainable aspects into your scheme seen in your sections and diagrams. Great work! - Colony
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