Over the past few weeks, the weather has been keeping us on our toes. From gentle drizzles to torrential downpours, from crisp mornings to sun-drenched afternoons, our team has experienced the full gamut of New England summer weather. The diverse range of conditions has helped illustrate the importance of our high-performance design choices—choices that ensure interior comfort while minimizing energy consumption in this climate.

Welcome to week 2 of the build, the first full week of work. At the end of last week, the team successfully erected the first wall, setting the stage for construction of more exterior walls on Monday.

Construction on the Paper House started in earnest last week. Students started by building picnic tables, sawhorses, and cribbing to support the houses. From there, it was on to the floor diaphragm (donated by rk Miles) and lifting the first wall (in a rainstorm!). With any luck – and the students’ growing skills – all the exterior walls (donated by rk Miles) will be up this week.

Wow! The 2023 UMass DesignBuild team presented their final proposal for small-scale, affordable housing in Holyoke this past Friday. The students went above and beyond in their design, representation, and presentation. Attendees at the presentation were universally impressed with the students’ proposal. To paraphrase the words of one guest, this is the future of affordable housing: thoughtful design that is low-energy, low-carbon, and beautiful. I couldn’t agree more.

In late March, three teams from the UMass DesignBuild class presented three unique schematic design proposals for the house in Holyoke. Following presentations, discussions with out guest critics, and a friendly vote, we decided to move forward with a single proposal that combined compelling elements from all three proposals. Take a look at the work below!