Making the Side Yard House; A Passive Mass Housing Model

Abstract

We currently face a major housing crisis, yet housing design and construction has barely responded. Approximately 98%of single-family house construction is still developer driven and the vast majority are energy inefficient, unsustainable to build and unaffordable by missing-middle home buyers who cannot afford skyrocketing real estate prices.¹ To address climate change and social/economic disparities, the Side Yard House was developed as a new proposal for mass detached housing that, largely through a reproportioning of the house to the land, can produce a more Passive, Adaptable, Modular, Resilient and Affordable home that incorporates qualities of both urban and suburban environments.