Architectural Design in Affordable Housing

ANN ARBOR, MI - Two projects designed or planned by Ann Arbor companies are examples of the emerging attention on the role of architectural design in affordable housing. Kadushin Associates Architects Planners completed a 171-unit low-income housing project in Florida that incorporates design elements meant to foster a sense of ownership among residents. And the preliminary design plans for a 60-unit affordable project on North Main Street being done by Avalon Housing reflect a varied exterior design, in an attempt to move away from the stand-alone projects of the past that were glaringly separate from surrounding neighborhoods.

Abe Kadushin of Kadushin Associates Architects Planners said the affordable housing industry needs a new approach to design, and designed the Gulf Breeze development in Punta Gorda, Fla., as an example. "It basically gets back to how to replicate a traditional neighborhood design," he said. The project has 10 different building designs, and design features aimed moving away from what Kadushin called the traditional "cookie-cutter" approach to low-income housing.

The project, which is already full, replaces a "FEMA City" of government trailers put up for victims of Hurricane Charley in 2004 on the site of a public housing complex that was destroyed in the storm. Kadushin said design elements including front porches and individual entryways, a diversity of building shapes, and an effort to integrate the project into the surrounding neighborhood, serve to promote a sense of ownership among the residents.

For example, entries from the street instead of long indoor corridors can better define the separation between public and private spaces, Kadushin said. "Wherever possible we put in individual entries as opposed to common entries in corridors," he said. "That can be a deterrent to crime." The architectural work for the Florida project was completed the company's headquarters in Ann Arbor by architects including Kadushin, Jeff Taggart and Chris Allen.

The pending affordable housing project on North Main in Ann Arbor will also incorporate some newer design elements, said Michael Appel, executive director of Avalon Housing. A varied exterior appearance and seamless transition into the neighborhood are two examples, Appel said. The project was designed by Damian Farrell Design Group of Ann Arbor.

Generally, enhancing the livability of low-income projects will pay dividends in lower turnover rates and lower maintenance costs, Appel said. Such buildings are less likely to end up blighted and needing to be completely torn down, he added. "Is it worth additional public subsidy to get that value? More and more communities are realizing that it is," Appel said.

Kadushin said there's a growing recognition among affordable housing funding agencies such as the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Michigan State Housing Development Authority of the importance of good design.

Separating affordable housing from the surrounding neighborhoods with large areas of pavement as was done in the past had a detrimental effect for residents, he said. "I think a lot of it has to do with the attitude (resulting in) poor housing for poor people," Kadushin said. "Some developers have the desire to put money into their buildings, others like to put that money in their pockets."

"There's a realization that low-income housing needs to be marketable," Appel said. "Otherwise, it ends up being a stigma, and that's not good for the residents, the financers or the investors."