The Wood House

The Wood House

The Wood House

The Wood House

The Wood House

The Wood House

The Wood House

The Wood House

The Wood House

The Wood House

The Wood House

The Wood House

The Wood House proposes the design and construction of affordable two-family housing on the New York City’s inventory of small vacant lots long considered too small or irregular for traditional housing stock. The two stacked units consist of duplex two-bedroom units, triplex three- or four-bedrooms units or single floor one-bedroom units in any combination. We propose to unlock the full potential of mass timber construction as a means of minimizing envelope dimension, reducing on-site construction demands and speeding the duration of construction. These measures will ultimately result in a reduced cost of construction and deliver housing faster to families in need. Timber construction significantly reduces the embodied carbon compared to steel and concrete alternatives. Cross Laminated Timber (CLT) structural walls and floor slabs supported by glue laminated (glulam) beams are the primary structural materials. While the foundation is to be built using traditional construction methods, the above grade structural components are to be built with factory fabricated CLT and glulam elements transported to the sites by truck. The design uses passive house strategies including the elimination of thermal breaks in the heavily insulated and sealed high-performance envelope and heat recovery ventilation (HRV). Radiant in-floor heating and cooling will be supplied by a ground source heat pump (GSHP) where feasible. The extensive green roof mitigates the heat island impact while employing storm water retention and collection for irrigation of balcony, roof and yard planting. The front and rear walls are clad in glass fiber reinforced concrete (GFRC) and rendered with contemporary flatness. GFRC is available in many colors to allow each residence to suit its context.