A recently completed pocket community in Augusta, Georgia generates a new context for a blighted area on the rise. Located one block from the Laney Walker neighborhood, the site straddles Wrightsboro Road a major east-west connector from the historic downtown to Augusta’s well-known colleges and golf courses.
The owner’s goal was to restore the vibrancy and charm of his once thriving hometown while providing contemporary housing to meet the needs of today’s families. The result is a modern take on southern vernacular architecture. Constructed in two phases, a combination of 35 single family and duplex apartment units line the north and south sides of Wrightsboro Road.
Maintaining a basic palette of building materials and repetitive elements kept the project on budget. Creative modifications to floor plans, window arrangements and porch designs, gives each unit its own identity. Solar hot water heaters, operable windows and energy saving appliances keep utility costs to a minimum. Including an open or screened porch in every unit responds to and respects the local climate while also reviving the traditional southern comfort of porch culture.