BSU Solar Decathlon Design & Build Challenges

Neighborhood Alleys

Before the automobile revolution, alleyways served as incredible pedestrian highways within dense cities. They offered a means of connecting parts of the city in a manner that promoted a lively community. Alleyways have played a key role in the success of city growth. These narrow paths between densely packed building structures continue to offer pedestrian flow, utility service access, and shortcuts away from traffic-heavy transportation arteries. Unfortunately, as cities evolved to the modern downtowns we know today, alleyways have developed a negative connotation due to their lack of lighting, little-to-no exit routes, and confined nature.

Although often seen as an undesirable and unsafe site condition, the alleyways within the dense urban fabric of Englewood hold enormous potential for weaving the community together. The southern alley of the 201 N Temple Avenue lot provides a desirable connection to the heart of the Englewood neighborhood where Englewood Church, Day Star Childcare, and the Branch Public Library are located. The Alley House aims to take advantage of the alley by creating a space for the community to gather, become a safe pedestrian path. Not only can the Alley House give a fresh breath into placemaking for this neighborhood, but it also has the potential to be a model of how homes in this area can take advantage of this great alley asset. Currently, many vacant lots populate this passageway, almost demanding a revival and redevelopment.

The Alley House project adapts to the needs of a growing family, creates a strong sense of place, and encourages sustainable lifestyles, but also proposes to activate the adjacent alleyway to create a neighborhood asset where before there was a liability. Taking full advantage of the alley to the south of the site, the project harmoniously integrates the architecture using an angled wall to create physical and visual access to the surrounding native, cultivated, and productive landscape.

 

Through the thoughtful placement of the front porches, walkways directly bleeding into the alleyway, and intentional landscape design to beautify the alley, the Alley House embraces these design principles with the intention of sharing them for future developments. Complementing the existing architecture of Temple Street while still creating its own identity, the Alley House provides a welcoming experience for family and friends. The alleyway provides opportunities for education about sustainable and energy efficient dwellings through the visibility of solar panels, native plantings, rain gardens, and the prominent stack ventilation towers.

The site-specific building form, Temple Street and south alley orientation, and a contextual material palette allow this two-family duplex to successfully integrate into its context. Complementing the existing architecture of Temple Street while still creating its own identity, the Alley House provides a welcoming experience for family and friends. The alleyway provides opportunities for education about sustainable and energy efficient dwellings through the visibility of solar panels, native plantings, rain gardens, and the prominent stack ventilation towers. The site-specific building form, Temple Street and south alley orientation, and a contextual material palette allow this two-family duplex to successfully integrate into its context.