Biloxi, MS, US (NCS) - Almost two years after Hurricane Katrina whipped through the Gulf Coast causing an estimated $81.2 billion USD in damages, Architecture for Humanity is one of several charitable organizations helping rebuild the disaster-ridden areas of New Orleans and coastal Mississippi.
With the mission of promoting architectural and design solutions to global, social and humanitarian crises, AFH teamed up with Biloxi Relief Recovery and Revitalization Center, the Gulf Coast Community Design Studio of Mississippi State University and others to help set up and secure funding to offer design services to a number of residents whose homes were wrecked by the hurricane.
In order to encourage long-term reconstruction, AFH addressed the ways to build in hurricane prone communities by sponsoring the Biloxi Model Home Program. The fully-funded pilot program aims to assist families committed to rebuilding their property by pairing them with architects, engineers and design professionals who can help them answer questions on safety and cost.
Quarts Surfaces, IBM and Kohler, AFH invited 12 established local and national firms to create proposals for the homes that meet the new challenge of disaster mitigation in the post-Katrina environment. All homes were on an estimated $115,000 USD budget.
Last August, the firms participated in the House Fair, an event open to the public that served as a vehicle for participating families to meet and talk with the architects and select a design team with which to work.
Firms involved in the initiative include Houston-based MC2 Architects; CP+D Workshop in Charlottesville, Virginia; Gulf Coast Community Design Studio in Jackson, Mississippi; Huff + Gooden Architects from Charleston, South Carolina; Building Studio from Memphis, Tennessee; Studio Gang Architects based in Chicago, Illinois; Brett Zamore Design of Houston, Texas; Rockhill and Associates in Lecompton, Kansas; Guild Hardy Architects based in Biloxi, Mississippi; Marlon Blackwell Architect in Fayatteville, Arkansas; Phatt Collaborative in Miami, Florida; and JBHM Architects in Biloxi and Jackson, Mississippi.
Client meetings and reviews with engineers took place from September through December last year, soon followed by documenting design development and construction, submitting bids and permits sets, and issuing building permits by mid-December. The first house broke ground in mid-January this year and subsequent groundbreakings have been staggered thereafter, with expected certificate of occupancy for the first house to be issued mid-August.
While architects based their designs on concepts of disaster resistance, sustainability and southern culture, the houses all have unique features that separate them from each other and truly make them homes.
Designed by Huff + Gooden Architects, the Robinson Residence is based on the creation of a set of “in-between” zones and middle grounds, for example between landscape and building or inside and outside. Rather than defining the home by rooms, it is defined in terms of transitory programs that provide a nuanced meaning to the definition of “home”.
“The reality facing many families on the gulf coast is not only how will I afford to rebuild or what are the new requirements set by FEMA, but the hidden costs that need to be factored into the equation regarding the higher flood insurance premiums and utility bills. Many of these families owned their properties and did not have a mortgage,” said AFH co-founder Cameron Sinclair. Sinclair explained that the Biloxi Model Home Program will “give architects a real opportunity to get involved in rebuilding on the gulf coast…no competition, no white paper, no celebrities, no planning/policy document, but real homes for those who need them most.”
Working one-on-one with architects and design professionals, the pilot program gives families access to expertise and design talent as well as the opportunity to learn and understand materials research, disaster mitigation and sustainable building techniques.
With funding in large part from Oprah’s Angel Network and sponsors such as Caesarstone
A morning space is found near the kitchen where a mother can sit in silent meditation, a dressing area is where children get a final review by mother or father, and a study area with a window into the kitchen provides space where a child can ask a parent a question about homework. The spatial strategy creates expansion, contraction, tension and inclusion. In-between zones can be reconfigured and can overlap. In contrast, a porch that allows for singular activities and moments of respite surrounds the perimeter of the house. One can view the landscape that is drawn up onto the house to provide shade and protection from the heat of the day.
The house is made of post and beam construction with polycarbonate siding. Windows are made of hurricane impact resistant glazing and impact resistant polycarbonate sheeting. The roofing is a low-slope metal roof system on pre-fabricated roof trusses.
Brett Zamore of Brett Zamore Design designed a 1,415 square foot house called “The Blox,” soon to be the Parker Residence. The design consists of a long, narrow, rectilinear wood-frame structure inspired by two Southern prototypes: the shotgun and the dogtrot. Constructed from standard wood members and common construction materials with a minimum of cutting, the Blox is a flexible kit of parts that can be customized easily to the particular needs of a family. Just as a train can be assembled by adding or removing individual cars, a Blox house can be planned by choosing just the right elements to meet the space needs of its residents.
The basic Blox module is 16 feet wide and is elevated above flood hazard levels on two rows of wood piers, placed at 12-foot intervals along the outer length. An optional 400-square-foot rental or master bedroom unit, known as the “Studio Blox,” can be added to the back or the side of a larger Blox unit, separated by an eight-foot-long deck. Both plans create appropriate public and private zones critical to successful homes and neighborhoods. Each features a front porch facing onto the public street as well as more private spaces for gardens, lawns and patios that are visible from inside. One plan has a back yard; the other a side yard. Homeowners can choose either configuration they prefer no matter the height-above-grade requirements of their site.
Another interesting design by Marlon Blackwell Architect is titled “The Porchdog House,” and will become the Tyler Residence. This design was based on the proposition of raising a home 12 feet above ground. Considering that the Gulf Coast has a specific streetscape and affiliated porch culture, the architects raised the house above ground but created a stoop that serves as a street level porch.
The house presents solid north and south facing walls against the coastal wind and operable east and west façades to the street and rear yard that can be closed in threatening weather. While acting as a refuge, the Porchdog still lends itself as a social structure.
The house also offers a wide range of living configurations. The room in the southwest corner of the downstairs plan can be a bedroom, master bedroom, home office or “granny flat.” Upstairs, a bunk room has capacity for up to four children and sits adjacent to a space that can serve as a play area for children, a sitting area or a small study.
All construction below the 12 foot flood elevation is made of rot and moisture resistant materials. The storage unit and stoop are CMU and concrete, respectively. The columns, lateral support and structure for the first floor deck are steel. The entry stair and rear deck stair are built of steel and rot resistant wood species of the homeowner’s choosing. Above the 12-foot flood level, construction is of typical dimension lumber, with 24-foot maximum span conditions requiring little invention on the part of the builders. The skin remains a rot resistant wood or metal siding through the full height of the building and wraps to the roof. The Porchdog shutter systems
are unique to this house, and allow the entire building to be closed off to inclement weather and respond to daily climate and solar needs.
Studio Gang Architects designed the Odom Residence using the pinecone as an inspirational organic model. The design investigates the ventilation potential of vernacular architectural elements like breezeways, prefab trusses and operable shutters. A main breezeway brings cool air into the sleeping chambers and perimeter verandahs, deepest on the south and east, both shade the house and offer indoor-outdoor living options.
The prefabricated trusses provide ample space under the floor for utilities and create interior height to effectively ventilate the interior spaces through the stack effect. Operable shutters can be closed along the porch perimeter to protect the house during hurricane season and can be opened regularly to capture prevailing breezes. By varying the degree of openness in the shutters, inhabitants can tailor the shade and privacy to their liking.
Hiep Tran and Lang Tho Do were planning to retire at the end of 2005, but Katrina hit Biloxi and totally destroyed their home. Now he and his wife will have to work a few more years before retirement. The site of the new Tran Residence is a small corner lot that measures 50 by 100 feet, with a 25-foot setback in the front, a 10- foot setback in the rear, a 15-foot setback from the side street, and a 5-foot setback from the side next to the adjacent property. Since the allowable building area for the Tran’s property is small, the architects designed a bungalow made up of two modules. The MC2 Architects designed 1,825 square-foot Tran Residence will begin construction in March.
The house contains the living room, dining room, kitchen, three bedrooms, two baths, and a utility room. In addition, there is a porch that wraps around the southwest corner of the house and faces both Division and Collier streets. The porch will not only provide much needed shade, but will allow the Trans to sit on their front porch and interact with their neighbors during their coming retirement. The budget for the house is set for $65 per square foot.
With scanty budgets and limited time and resources, it can be difficult to create masterful designs. But all of the firms participating in the model home program still manage to do just that by keeping in mind that they are all working towards the common goal of helping the families in the gulf coast recover from disaster.
But architects must “design with pride, not pity,” stressed Sinclair, who is also the author of Design Like You Give a Damn: Architectural Responses to Humanitarian Crises. His personal goal: to improve the living standards of five million people.
And as more houses in the Biloxi Model Home Program continue to break ground throughout the spring, the living standards of hundreds of more people will be improved, offering families hope after Katrina and solace in knowing that even if future disasters occur, their homes are now ready to weather the storm.
