Michael Sklenka is a Detroit-based architect and designer. He has been involved in many types and scales of building and planning projects over the last ten years from affordable housing developments to building neighborhood parks. The following represent a selection of projects that Michael has designed and directed under his own practice between 2020-2025, projects completed in collaboration with his previous employer between 2015-2020, and a few competition entries inbetween.
T.H.I.S.
TOMMORROW’S HOUSING INNOVATION SHOWCASE
Tomorrow’s Housing Innovation Showcase consists of seven new single-family homes built in 2024 as a pilot model of affordable housing intended to be deployed throughout Detroit’s neighborhoods. The homes were built within multiple factories around the Midwest to explore the potential for modular construction to integrate within Detroit’s legacy infrastructure, and provide cost-efficient solutions to the housing shortage. Each home will be sold at 80% AMI through a community land trust ownership model being established by an existing neighborhood association to ensure long-term affordability and equitable housing within a rapidly developing area.
STATUS
BUILT, 2024
LOCATION
NORTH CORKTOWN, DETROIT
CLIENT
NORTH CORKTOWN NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION, GILBERT FAMILY FOUNDATION
SERVICES
ZONING ANALYSIS
MASTER PLANNING
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN
CONSTRUCTION DOCUMENTATION
INTERIOR DESIGN
LANDSCAPE DESIGN
PERMITTING
CONSTRUCTION ADMINISTRATION
COURT HOUSE
This single-family home with interior courtyard has been designed to fit around some of Detroit’s oldest homes within it’s most eclectic historic neighborhood. The house is divided into two complimentary massings to create the impression of two structures to reflect the proportions of surrounding single-story homes. A gabled brick-clad section at the public corner features a protruding bond pattern in reference to the types of simple workman’s cottages that once populated the original neighborhood. Two wood-clad bays project from the public faces to tie the form together and nest the kitchen and an office nook. The plan wraps itself around a central courtyard and garden bounded by floor-to-ceiling glass windows to provide continuous natural light and ventilation through the entire house.
STATUS
PERMITTING, 2025
LOCATION
CORKTOWN, DETROIT
CLIENT PRIVATE
SERVICES
ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN
CONSTRUCTION DOCUMENTATION
INTERIOR DESIGN
LANDSCAPE DESIGN
TEMPLE HOUSE
Built for a product designer with a futurist aesthetic, the Temple house is a custom 2,100 sqft. home currently under construction to be completed in 2025. The plan includes attached garage and fabrication space at the ground level, and a walk-out sun deck at the third level. With a strong focus on natural, durable, and austere materials; the house is being clad in standingseam steel panels and thermally-modified Nordic spruce wood cladding.
STATUS
UNDER CONSTRUCTION
LOCATION
NORTH CORKTOWN, DETROIT
CLIENT PRIVATE
SERVICES
LAND ACQUISITION CONSULTING
ZONING AND CITY ENTITLEMENTS
ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN
CONSTRUCTION DOCUMENTATION
ENGINEERING COORDINATION
INTERIOR DESIGN
PERMITTING
CONSTRUCTION ADMINISRATION
Porch Rendering
ASH HOUSE
The Ash House is a live/work space built in 2020 for a clothing designer with a ground level workshop and second level dwelling. The house is anchored around a mural wall that acts as a bookend to an adjacent pocket park, while the other facades are clad in a charred cedar wood siding to act as background and blend with the older weathered structures that populate the neighborhood. The interior is finished with all natural materials including solid wood finished with whey urethane, lime plaster, concrete tile, and mineral paint.
STATUS
BUILT, 2020
LOCATION
NORTH CORKTOWN, DETROIT
CLIENT PRIVATE
SERVICES
ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN
CONSTRUCTION DOCUMENTATION
ENGINEERING COORDINATION
INTERIOR DESIGN
PERMITTING
CONSTRUCTION ADMINISRATION
ADUs
Several accessory dwelling units (ADU) for various clients in different parts of Detroit designed between 2020-2025 in various stages of implementation. STATUS
1.
3. UNDER CONSTRUCTION
4. BUILT, 2023
1. CORKTOWN, DETROIT
2. NORTH CORKTOWN, DETROIT
3. NORTH CORKTOWN, DETROIT
4. WOODBRIDGE, DETROIT
CLIENT
VARIOUS, PRIVATE
SERVICES
ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN
CONSTRUCTION DOCUMENTATION
ENGINEERING COORDINATION
PERMITTING
CONSTRUCTION ADMINISRATION
1. Corktown Addition + ADU
2. North Corktown ADU
3. North Corktown ADU
2. Woodbridge ADU (Renovation)
BAGLEY 10
The Bagley 10 is a condominium development located in Detroit’s oldest neighborhood. The building is segmented into upper and lower units bridged by steel and glass projections at the front facade to give the impression of a traditional rowhouse typology. The lower units feature a garden level to encourage interaction between the inhabitants and pedestrian traffic of the neighborhood, and the upper units feature a walk-out roof terrace with downtown views.
Under the direction of CH Architects, Michael contributed to multiple phases of the project.
STATUS
BUILT, 2021
LOCATION
CORKTOWN, DETROIT
CLIENT
CHRISTIAN HURTTIENNE DEVELOPMENT
ARCHITECT
CH ARCHITECTS
ROLE
ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN
CONSTRUCTION DOCUMENTATION
3D RENDERING
MARKETING COLLATERAL
THE COE
The Coe at West Village is a mixed-use development including eight row-houses, four apartments, and three retail spaces. The development was the first mid-scale new construction building of its kind to be built in a Detroit neighborhood in decades.
Under the direction of CH Architects, Michael contributed to multiple phases of the project.
STATUS
BUILT, 2017
LOCATION
WEST VILLAGE, DETROIT
CLIENT
WOODBORN PARTNER
ARCHITECT
CH ARCHITECTS
ROLE
ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN
CONSTRUCTION DOCUMENTATION
3D RENDERINGS
BALLET BUILDINGS
This development consists of two new construction mixed-use buildings, and the renovation of two historic mixed-use buildings at the intersection of two main thoroughfares in Detroit’s Corktown neighborhood. The blue structure is designed to house three retail tenants at the ground level and a large residence with roof deck at the second and third levels. Large spans of folding glass partitions provide a connection between the residence and activity of the neighborhood. The yellow structure occupies a narrow lot between the existing historic building and an adjacent house to provide a small retail unit at ground level connected to a living unit above for a live/work tenant.
Under the direction of CH Architects, Michael contributed to multiple phases of the project.
GAS STATION OF THE FUTURE
This competition entry reimagines the gas station typology for an all-electric future by transforming a one-hundred-year-old filling station in Detroit into a fitness center for sustainable on-site energy production. Each workout machine acts as a node transforming the kinetic energy generated during a workout into the power supply for the EV charing docks outside. While each station is also outfitted with solar panels to fuel the charging station during sunny days, human-generated energy can be produced day or night regardless of weather.
Stations like these were common at most street corners in the Motor City, and acted as neighborhood beacons of the fossil-fueled mobility revolution at the turn of the Century. Now that the narrative is evolving towards one of electric autonomy, these stations have the potential to evolve into equally prominent fixtures within a sustainable electric future.
AWARDS
SPONSOR GOARCHITECT
GRAND RIVER ROUNDABOUT
This unbuilt proposal reimagines a complicated intersection in Detroit where three main arterial roads currently converge in a confusing mess resulting from decades of adhoc blight removal, unintentional urban artifacts, and negligent transporation design. The plan has been developed to guide conversations between the Michigan Department of Transportation, Detroit Department of Transportation, and the City of Detroit Planning and Development Department to inform a strategic plan to address confusing and often dangerous intersections along Detroit’s radial boulevards.
