Background:
The United States faces an enormous housing shortage, requiring a wide range of creative explorations as potential solutions. There will never be a “one size fits all” fix. There are so many variables to consider, such as context, climate, zoning, finance, and the evolution of any given urban area. Enter the Tempe Micro Estates and its special team and circumstances.
Tempe, Arizona is a fairly small land-locked city within Metropolitan Phoenix. Typically friendly to development, the city has grown considerably and quickly- though mostly with market rate housing. The city has one of the nation’s largest universities, yet recent graduates and area work-force cannot afford Tempe’s typical housing options.
However, Tempe is also progressive and interested in creative solutions. The city has been utilizing funds from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to purchase sites within its “Urban Core” for affordable housing options. Utilizing an RFP process that required creativity from development teams for a small site near the university and downtown, The Micro Estates team answered the call and won the commission.
The project consists of thirteen small (600 SF) environmentally friendly houses that fit the scale of the surrounding neighborhood. The size and arrangement of the homes provides affordability and a generous central garden space. Because the developer was also a land-trust, the ownership is based on 99-year renewable leases. To keep the homes affordable over time, each owner must pass down 15% of their built-up equity to subsequent owners. The developer dubbed the project Tempe Micro Estates.
This development is a model for affordability, community, and good stewardship for many urban areas in the United States and beyond.
Architect: coLAB studio, llc
Developer/Owner: Newtown CDC
Builder: 180 Degrees Design + Build
Civil: Cyprus Development
Structural: Struktur
Mech/Plumb: AME
Electrical Engineer: Woodward Engineering
Landscape Architecture: Urban Culture Design
Photography: Roehner Ryan
Site:
At the South end of a small residential street, the .65 acre (~28,300 SF) “L” shaped lot backed onto a major Union Pacific railway. While the site and surrounding neighborhood is predominantly zoned R-3, the residential street consisted of modest single-story single family homes from the 1940s-1970s (around 1500 SF each). The site is “walkable,” with the university, shopping, parks, groceries, and restaurants all within a 10 minute walk.
While the site contained minimal topography, the water retention and drainage created challenges. The principle flow of water in the region runs from north-east to south-west; though water must not drain from the site to the railway property to the south. Instead, storm water must run due north up the street. Thus, the site’s main southern portion needed to be raised two feet to enable proper drainage. To keep the site fully accessible, water retention would need to be placed underground.
Brief:
Tempe’s RFP required a minimum of 13 homes for ownership. A majority of those homes (7 of the 13) to be sold as affordable at 80% of area median-income level. The homes should be either “tiny homes” (under 500 SF) or “small houses” (500-700 SF) on independent property lots. In addition, there should be a larger communal building (900 SF) where the community and visitors may gather.
The entire site should be designed and constructed for environmental considerations- low energy and water use, low-maintenance, and designed to HUD and FHAA standards. One home must be a Type B Unit (fully accessible for those confined to a wheelchair) per IRC ICC code, and all other units to be Type C (“visitability units,” meaning accessible for home visitors in wheelchairs).
The RFP process required a development team that included a developer with a financial plan for the project, an architect, and general contractor.
Design:
The main inspiration sprung from existing “micro-neighborhood” concepts, such as “Grow” Community on Bainbridge Island, WA. The designers of Tempe Micro Estates chose to minimize parking and keep all spaces on the smaller north-west corner of the L-shaped lot. This minimizes hard paving and maximizes space for gardens and food production. The communal space was placed directly adjacent to the street and parking.
The community contains a variety of scales of space. In descending order, these include the central garden space, communal space (with adjacent exterior gathering space), semi-private patios, and individual home interior spaces.
Each house has one side against a side property lot-line, constructed as a 1-hour wall without openings. The opposite side would allow for a semi-private exterior space. This required each home to contain a bedroom mezzanine with stairs. To save space, the bathroom is placed beneath the stair. An adequate small kitchen has a picture window at the sink that faces the main garden. The unit contains no hallways or unusable space, with the possible exception of the stair. Two interior walls contain the bathroom, which keeps the construction efficient and the living area as flexible and spacious as possible. The roof slopes upward towards and over the mezzanine, providing a single large open space. Four windows provide almost all the needed light for the home during the day, while just three artificial lights suspended within the tall space provide adequate light at night.
Environmentalism:
Place:
Not a greenfield site, previously contained 1-story apartment building
Approximately a quarter of site area intended for food production
Other exterior common areas provide native plants and habitat as well as community gatherings
Prioritized for human habitation over vehicles
Water:
EPA Water-Sense rated construction
Low-flow fixtures
Laundry-to-landscape utilized
2600 gallon above-ground roof-water collection cistern for landscaping
Energy:
93.2 kW photovoltaic array provided by local non-profit, provides approximately 180% of annual on-site electrical use
65% of parking is covered, generates energy with photovoltaic panels
Two EV charging stations provided by local non-profit
EPA Energy-Sense rated construction
Health + Happiness:
EPA Indoor Air-Plus rated construction
Direct visual and physical access to natural exterior environments
Biophilic Design utilized throughout
Materials + Durability:
Utilized natural materials where possible
Utilized readily available durable materials and fixtures
No use of toxic spray-foam insulation
Equity:
One fully accessible unit provided
Twelve “visitability” units provided
No negative impacts on neighbors by providing proper scale that allows neighboring properties to maintain their views and access to breezes and sunlight
Beauty + Education:
See: Biophilic + Scientific Data Design description
Several tours provided to various developers, neighbors, and community groups
Biophilic + Scientific Data Design:
Studies show humans are deeply affected by their environment. Knowing that people prefer complex facades, TME’s exterior appearance has repeated square proportions and complex patterns defined by joints in the stucco cladding, window placement, and colorful metal panels. The color schemes differentiate units. Each unit’s semi-private exterior space contains a main color on the unit and the adjacent unit’s back-side. This envelopes a unit owner in their main color, while a secondary color on one unit is the main color of an adjacent unit. The metal panel patterns are derived from colors of regional xeroscape, where pigments blend into each other. This is a subtle use of biomorphic forms & patterns, which allow for pleasure and health benefits.
Exterior spaces of different scales and levels of privacy allow people to interact or withdraw as desired. Two fencing options allow owners to increase privacy levels by placing wood fences in two locations for pet-enclosure and/or greater visual privacy.
The interiors contain wood in order to provide human benefit. The guards at the mezzanines are constructed of un-finished wood as a visual and textural connection to the site’s trees/gardens and to provide visual warmth. The stairs and mezzanine are finished with wood-patterned floors, risers, and treads.
DETAILS:
Build Status: “Completed”
Category: Residential or Commercial or Urban Design (no “multi-family” option)
Year Completed: 2022
Budget: $2.85m
Building Levels: 2
Project Size: 8,700 sf
Site Size: .65 acre
PROJECT TEAM:
Newtown CDC - Owner + Developer
180 Degrees Design+Build - Builder
Kevin Kellogg - Planning Lead
coLAB studio - Lead Design Architect, Architect of Record
Cypress Engineering - Civil Engineering
Struktur - structural engineering
Woodward Engineering - Electrical engineering
AME - Mechanical + Plumbing engineering
Roehner & Ryan - Photographer
600 square-foot small-house 13-unit affordable development in Tempe’s Downtown Urban Core. The first of its kind in the city, and possibly the region. Working with the non-profit land trust, Newtown CDC, these homes will be sold to people that earn 80% of AMI (area median income).
All the homes are arranged around a community garden, with private patios that are a combination of sheltered and yet open towards the central open space.
Twelve of the homes are “visitability” units (type C under the ICC code), meaning they allow for wheelchair accessibility to the ground level, kitchen, and restroom. One additional unit is more accessible (type B), allowing the occupant greater mobility and use of all spaces- all on one level.
Nearly all buildings will be provided with solar photovoltaics, all meet governmental guidelines for Energy Star and Watersense. A portion of the project will also collect roof water for landscape use.
We also included several aspects of biophilic design into the colors, patterns, materials, and spatial configurations throughout the site. The “urban camouflage” pattern at each unit breaks down the facade of the units, creating visual depth and variety within the community. Each unit’s accent color is displayed on both sides of the private patios- with the color spanning two units to create one private space.