Boston-based French 2D has completed a 45,000-square-foot collective housing complex in Malden, on the outskirts of Boston. Named Bay State Commons Cohousing, the thirty-unit scheme was conceived as a collaboration with residents “through a participatory design process emphasized mutual support and the central values of consolidating and sharing resources from land and energy to cars and material goods.”

The scheme’s form is defined by a series of stacked, interlocking units, ranging from micro-studios to three-bedroom homes. Half of the units and common spaces overlook an interior courtyard and lawn, with exterior spaces at every level encouraging spontaneous interactions among residents.

“Rather than being about surveillance, these connections create reciprocity across multiple places for gardening, chatting, playing, reading, or lounging,” the team explains. “Many of the community’s older residents and those with children chose these courtyard-facing units to be near to one another, to the garden in the terraced beds at the rear of the site, and to the informal playspace at the courtyard and lawn.”

The complex’s external palette is defined by soft tones across the external facade and interior courtyard space, contrasted by pastels and vibrant colors on window frames, doors, and stair rails, whose bold colors echo and reimagine the Victorian-inspired ‘painted ladies’ found in neighboring historic homes. Meanwhile, a green roof sits atop a partially submerged garage.

Within the scheme, each unit contains the amenities of a private home, supported by a framework of shared spaces and resources including communal terraces, gardens, a community pantry, workspaces, and a 100-capacity dining room. To reinforce the concept of informal communal connections, the team eliminated double-loaded corridors and instead designed a series of arrangements in plan and section that embed common spaces. Prominent examples include a semi-enclosed courtyard with exterior walkways, and decks at the second level that exchange views across the courtyard.

“In a field saturated by profit-driven multifamily speculation, this project finds resonance between client-led development and architect-led experimentation,” French 2D principals Jenny and Anda French said about the scheme. “We hope this project can serve as a replicable model for alternative American housing.”

“In both its conceptual core and its built reality, we have maintained that architecture is capable of pairing considered, complex form with the customs and comforts of a collective community,” the team added. “An open courtyard lined by stealthily coordinated single-loaded corridors reshuffles the boundaries between private lives and common territories.”

The complex is one of several recently completed residential schemes to feature in our editorial. Last week, we reported on IOAN’s Joshua Tree residence which sets natural materials against a desert backdrop, while last month, we covered SGVA’s Brooklyn apartment complex. In October, meanwhile, we reported on a coastal Canadian home by StudioAC and a Passive House retrofit of a 1970s garage in Quebec by Atelier L’Abri.