EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:

The residences on Oak Hill Avenue continue our long-standing maintaining a high level of sustainable design while remaining contextually sensitive to the surrounding community. The Oak Hill Avenue houses align with the long-term mission of the City for creating a sustainable future. Part of this sustainable future can be achieved by analyzing and planning for local economic and demographic trends. In recent years, both our city and our firm have recognized an escalating trend in the housing market; the entire county’s population is growing at a high rate including our city, while the average household size is dwindling considerably. Sustainability, urban infill, affordability, and assimilation to the site are among the driving forces behind the design of the Oak Hill Avenue homes. Side-by-side yet independent dwellings, each boasts the accommodations necessary for comfortable and modern living in our city. At 600 square feet, 1501 Oak Hill Avenue sits on the northwest corner of the site. This flexible one-bedroom dwelling is a modest and expressive form for contemporary living. On the southeast corner sits 1503 Oak Hill Avenue. As the larger of the companion houses at 1,000 square feet, 1503 hosts residents in an elongated two bedroom with flexible loft space.

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NOTABLE SUSTAINABLE STRATEGIES USED IN THE PROJECT:

The residences on Oak Hill Avenue continue our long-standing maintaining a high level of sustainable design while remaining contextually sensitive to the surrounding community. The Oak Hill Avenue houses align with the long-term mission of the City for creating a sustainable future. Part of this sustainable future can be achieved by analyzing and planning for local economic and demographic trends. In recent years, both our city and our firm have recognized an escalating trend in the housing market; the entire county’s population is growing at a high rate including our city, while the average household size is dwindling considerably. Sustainability, urban infill, affordability, and assimilation to the site are among the driving forces behind the design of the Oak Hill Avenue homes. Side-by-side yet independent dwellings, each boasts the accommodations necessary for comfortable and modern living in our city. At 600 square feet, 1501 Oak Hill Avenue sits on the northwest corner of the site. This flexible one-bedroom dwelling is a modest and expressive form for contemporary living. On the southeast corner sits 1503 Oak Hill Avenue. As the larger of the companion houses at 1,000 square feet, 1503 hosts residents in an elongated two bedroom with flexible loft space.

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The two houses each have their own deeded lot at 50x160. Each house sits above a super insulated crawl space. A TJI wood floor frame supports the main floor and the continuous exposed finish floor is red oak engineered flooring. The ten-foot-tall exterior walls blend into the 45-degree pitched roof in the open spaces. Painted dimension lumber cross ties hold the frame together. The thermal performance of exterior 6” wood frame -filled with cellulous fiber - is improved by the addition of a two-inch polyiso insulation board. Similarly, the 12” roof frame – also filled with cellulose fiber - has a three-inch nail base polyiso board over it. The Galvalume roofing bleeds into the walls and forms a tight façade that performs well in our climate of two extremes; very cold winters and hot humid summers. The pop out on the side of each of the buildings are clad in sassafras and house the kitchen and entryways for each house. The sassafras is continued around as decking on each side of the buildings to reach out into the landscape and contribute to the boat like enhancement of space in a sea of grass. The houses are simple, energy efficient- both are LEED Platinum – and affordable. The smaller is $165,000 USD and the larger two-bedroom unit is $228,000 USD. They are both built as speculative ventures and both have been sold.