The Student Habitat

Innovative Affordable Housing Studio | Spring 2025 | Professor Thomas Barrie FAIA

A Proposition for Communal Living

“The Student Habitat project explores affordability, density, and social engagement through courtyard housing comprising single-room-occupancy, micro-units, and cottage apartments. It applies Missing Middle Housing principles to create a lowrise, high-density community that promotes walkability and community.”

01. Where?

618 Chappell Dr

The site sits on the edge of NC State University and is well connected by existing public transit, including Wolfline buses and GoRaleigh services. It is also located along the planned Bus Rapid Transit corridor, which will further improve regional accessibility.

Land Use

01. Why?

Enrollment grows steadily, but housing doesn’t keep pace

On-campus housing serves fewer than 25% of students

Rents near campus have outpriced most students

Existing housing lacks shared space and liveability

Existing

Parkwood Village

Avery Close Apartments

Crest Town Homes

Parkwood Village

Crest Town Houses

Parkwood Village

The site is surrounded by large surface parking lots that dominate the ground plane and disconnect buildings from one another. While there is visible green space, much of it functions as leftover or residual space with no clear purpose or activation. These conditions contribute to a fragmented and underutilized urban fabric.

Crest Town Houses

Avery Close Apartments

03. How?

We began by conducting a student survey to understand current housing needs, daily routines, and preferences. The program was shaped directly by these responses. For planning and spatial organization, we drew from Christopher Alexander’s design principles to guide form, hierarchy, and relationships between shared and private spaces.

STUDENT SURVEY

Respond to Users (70 Responses)

Program Planning

Listen to the Experts

Site Plan

Chappell Drive

Where do you currently live?

How do you primarily commute to campus?

Would you Consider Co-living if rent is lower?

Would you prefer car-free housing with enhanced bike and pedestrian infrastructure?

Number of Roommates?

Housing Typology?

Micro-Units 15 units (1 person each)

Cottage Court Houses 8 units (1–2 persons each)

Shared Apartments 15 units (3–4 persons each)

Total Housing 78 beds (39 Beds/Acre)

Apartments

Communal Kitchen & Dining

Laundry Room

Courtyard to Eat

Courtyard to Rest

Precedents

Location : Vienna, Austria

Area : 9499 sqm (2.34 acres)

Year : 2022

Architect : Buschina & Partner

Sunflower Houses, Austria

Precedents

Location : Deer Isle, Maine

Area : 40 acres

Year : 1961

Architect : Edward Larrabee Barnes

Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, Maine

Pattern Language

Planning based on Christopher Alexander’s Principles

106. Positive Outdoor Space

Outdoor areas must be spatially defined by buildings, forming convex, legible “outdoor rooms” rather than leftover voids.

114. Heirarchy of Open Spaces

Organize open spaces in a gradient from private to public, ensuring spatial clarity and social function.

Planning

115. Courtyards which Live

Courtyards must be functional, sunlit, and connected to active interior uses—never just ornamental voids.

119. Arcade

Arcades act as shaded, semi-open transitions that define edges, support pedestrian flow, and mediate thresholds.

25’ Wide Driveway Micro-Housing

Courtyard to Play

Key Plan

2-Bed Apartment Floor Plan

Micro-Apartment Floor Plan (1 Bed)

2-Bed Apartment Floor Plan

Micro-Apartment Floor Plan (1 Bed)