The HBEER studio focuses on creating affordable housing using prefabrication methods and locally harvested materials.  This comprehensive studio challenged students to think about every different aspect of the design process, from heating and lighting calculations, to construction details and outlet diagrams. 

My project is a conceptualization of how steel prefabrication processes could help realize a modularized, multi-family academic housing community in Pikeville, Kentucky.  The units are broken down into 30’ and 60’ modules that are stacked and rotated to create different sized apartments.  The arrangement of the units maximizes the efficiency by eliminating the need to build separate circulation paths, as the roofs of one unit serve as hallways between units and/or patios for private bedrooms.

As a supplement to the tower project, a duplex was also developed to further investigate the range of deployment opportunities for the modular system.  It was on this duplex arrangement that the heating and cooling loads were calculated.  The duplexes would be arranged on the same site as the large complex and could be residences for tenured professors or graduate students looking for more long-term housing.