Pick a coconut from your bedroom window
A new model of housing for multi-generational families and intentional communities
Green House brings a new model of communal living to Boston, one that is equally relevant to two distinct audiences:
multi-generational families that want to cohabitate & people looking for the affordabiliy and companionship of co-living.
What would typically be three separate homes share a communal ground floor that contains: dining, living, laundry and, either a “grandmother flat” or a home business. Each unit can be accessed from the first floor by a private stair that leads to their bedrooms.
The housing is paired with a public greenhouse-promenade that creates a mid-block shortcut, extending the community beyond the dwelling. This greenhouse allows the residents to grow a significant amount of food or flowers, and could be used to provide garden plots for neighbors as well. In Boston’s cold climate it provides a taste of the tropics year-round.
What would typically be three separate homes share a communal ground floor that contains: dining, living, laundry and, either a “grandmother flat” or a home business. Each unit can be accessed from the first floor by a private stair that leads to their bedrooms.
The housing is paired with a public greenhouse-promenade that creates a mid-block shortcut, extending the community beyond the dwelling. This greenhouse allows the residents to grow a significant amount of food or flowers, and could be used to provide garden plots for neighbors as well. In Boston’s cold climate it provides a taste of the tropics year-round.
Green House =
One-Third Greenhouse + Two-Thirds House
One-Third Greenhouse + Two-Thirds House
The Site Plan, showing the arrangement of the greenhouse & the house
This reconfiguration allows families to eat together and have a greater variety of social interactions, while saving on kitchen costs
Site Plan
Year round tropics within the greenhouse arcade, which can be opened in the warm months
First Floor Plan, Living Room Zoom
Morning in the communal kitchen: the building is constructed of cross laminated timber (CLT), a low-carbon mass-timber structural system that has the additional benefits of wood’s warmth & beauty
Second Floor Plan, Bedroom Zoom
Work-live: a third of the ground floor is given over to a “grandmother flat” or a small business (or a hybrid of both, as shown here)
A portion of the extensive gardens could be rented to the broader community to generate revenue for the residents
A long section cut through the greenhouse-promenade
The height of the Green House alternates from a single-story to three-stories in step with the housing. This creates opportunities for tall plants & hanging plants, while establishing a human-scale
The space between the upper living units allows for the bedrooms to have operable windows on two sides
A short section cut through the roof deck, bedrooms, living room, and three-story green house.
A short section cut through the communal kitchen showing the windows of the bedrooms beyond
Client
Private
Timeline
2018Status
CompleteLocation
Boston, MassachusettsServices
ArchitectureLandscape Architecture
Interior Design
Furniture Selection