In a recent survey of trends in American rental housing, Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies reported that fewer than one percent of units include a basic suite of universal-design accommodations. “The picture is far worse among one- to three-family houses,” says Richard Duncan, executive director of the Chapel Hill, North Carolina-based RL Mace Universal Design Institute.
AARP, AARP Foundation, Home Matters and the Wells Fargo Housing Foundation are turning to the architecture and design community for solutions. “Re-defining Home: Home Today, Home Tomorrow” is a competition that challenges professionals to create universal design remodeling strategies for a three-bedroom house in the Springhill section of Memphis, Tennessee. The competition is currently accepting submissions, through April 29, and the winning proposal will not only earn a $10,000 prize but be implemented into the Memphis home.
Duncan, who is serving on the Re-defining Home jury, says the competition’s focus on an existing structure lends more complexity to the design challenge than a new-construction scenario. “A regular house in a regular neighborhood” underscores the need for ease and convenience of universal design elements to appeal to all ages and households, as well, he notes. “This is a great showcase for the features that can accommodate us through growing up, maturing, aging and all the life stages in between.”
Submissions should maximize functionality in a fashion that appeals to mainstream audiences. Designs that include stereotypical or stigmatizing features, or respond to a narrow slice of the home remodeling demographic, are discouraged. Duncan adds that, because a mainstream audience could confront an array of accessibility needs, “we’re not intending for 100 percent accessibility upon first occupancy.” Requiring typical grab bars, for example, both limits universal design to a certain population and calls attention to its needs.
The project budget further recommends responsiveness to various life situations, rather than immediate solutions to every possible condition. According to the brief, the Memphis renovation should cost $75,000 in hard construction, which includes labor, additions, foundations, structure, exterior modifications, interior finishes, electrical wiring and plumbing. While the jury will scrutinize entries for whole-house adaptability, that versatility will be particularly important for the entry, interior circulation and high-use spaces like kitchen and bathrooms. Indoor environmental quality is another guiding criterion.
“We’re absolutely relying on the creativity of the architecture community and very much anticipating wonderful responses from this,” Duncan says. “It’s much more common for designers to tackle a problem with a specific label, such as a nursing facility or a home for an injured veteran. You can go in a lot of different directions with the basic framework we’ve proposed.”
This is Re-defining Home’s sophomore outing, and the competition theme changes annually. In addition to its sponsor organizations, this year the effort has the support of more than 30 groups representing architecture, design and academia, including lead partner AIA San Francisco as well as the Autodesk Foundation, Public Architecture, Design Corps, SPUR, American Society of Interior Designers (ASID), National Organization of Minority Architects, the schools of architecture at Syracuse and Rice universities and the ULI Terwilliger Center for Housing – to name a few.
The competition winner will work with Home Matters and Memphis-based nonprofit developer United Housing to implement the renovation scheme and will be compensated for that effort beyond the $10,000 purse. Cash prizes will also be paid to second- and third-place submissions. Solutions from these and non-ranking submissions will be included in a Design Challenge Educational and Influencer Toolkit that will educate industry professionals and consumers about affordable and replicable universal-design solutions. You can learn more about the competition and enter submissions here.
Watch Richard Duncan’s Tour Of The Memphis Home For More Tips & Information:
