Architecture students build modern duplex for low-income families

The lack of affordable housing is a national crisis and, naturally, a popular topic for architecture schools around the country. From SCI-Arc’s low-cost modern home to Yale’s prefab home for the homeless, design students are putting their skills to the test with real projects for those who need it the most. Over in Kansas City, another of such project has wrapped up—with impressive results.

A collaboration between architecture students at Kansas State University and local firm (also 2015 Curbed Groundbreaker winner) El Dorado, Waldo Duplex is a two-unit apartment building located in a historic neighborhood and intended for local families that make less than 80 percent of the city’s average income.

The apartments, each clocking in at 725 square feet, feature an open-plan living, dining, and kitchen layout, with glass walls and clerestory light panels for the enclosed bedrooms.

The structure, built atop a concrete base, was designed to sensibly work with the existing neighborhood. Exterior walls and the pitched roof are clad in corrugated metal and stairs lead up to a pair of rectilinear porches.

The team worked with a limited budget of $290,000, which comes out to about $200 per square foot—perhaps not the most cost-effective rate but definitely modest. Check out more creative solutions to affordable housing around the country here.

Via: Dezeen