The second iteration of the UMass DesignBuild program is well underway! Twelve students, hailing from the UMass Department of Architecture, the UMass Building and Construction Technology Program, and the Five College Architectural Studies Program, have spent the spring semester designing a new small, dwelling unit. We’re partnering again with OneHolyoke Community Development Corporation to design and build a small house that will become part of their affordable housing options in Holyoke, MA. The students are spending the spring semester in design and will then transition to building over a 2-month long summer session.

Students began the semester with a visit to Holyoke, MA where they met with the director of OneHolyoke CDC, a panel of local Holyoke residents, and the director of planning for the City of Holyoke, and also visited the site for their building project.

Students then began a deep analysis of a range of small house precedents to learn about spatial strategies for small houses, affordability, constructability, and strategies for low-energy and low-carbon building. They also used this research to define their goals and measures of success in their project.

This research became the launching point for a series of conceptual design proposals for their specific site and program.