HABITAT 15

Hillsborough Country Habitat for Humanity launched an open competition for the design of a new home prototype in May 2014. The competition task was to design a single-family residence that would contribute to the success of many families in our local community through creative and strategic thinking. We have since revisited the task to challenge the prescriptive boundaries of form-based mandates.

The problem of the house has not yet been exhausted and as we begin to look into, or return again to though about crafting an essential domestic setting, the immutable themes of dwelling can emerge as prominent and necessary. Rest, gathering, tarrying, nourishing, conserving, revering, and references to the horizons of memory. We see something familiar and yet uniquely uncommon condensing each of these notions into a modest and aspirational domicile. Habitat 15 is one iteration of questioning regular answers to the question of economical sub-tropical residences. While is still fits within the competition guidelines and footprint of 30ft x 60ft, this design explores how light, air, and tectonics are communicated through material culture, form, and domestic contexts.