by Russell Boniface
Associate Editor

Summary: University of Pennsylvania architecture students have successfully completed a design for a sustainable and affordable West Philadelphia housing project for teen mothers and their children. The Bernice Elza Homes project will begin construction this spring and involve sustainable design elements, such as photovoltaic roof panels and solar hot water heat, all within a limited budget. Eighteen students participated in a design studio for one academic semester at the UPenn’s School of Design in conjunction with Philadelphia-based Blackney Hayes Architects (BHA), Philadelphia-based Richard Wesley Architects, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Community Outreach Partnership Center (COPC), and the Peoples Emergency Center Community Development Corporation (PECCDC). John Fox Hayes, AIA, principal at BHA, guided three undergraduate students through the final design.

The Bernice Elza Homes project, named after the mother of City Councilwoman Janie Blackwell, began several years ago as a part of a $1 million COPC grant for the University of Pennsylvania School of Design. The realization of the initiative was an undergraduate design studio, which took place in the spring 2006 semester. The design studio encouraged collaboration between the university and the community while allowing students to master theories and practices of affordable housing. A group of 18 students worked in the studio and were led by architect John Fox Hayes of BHA and architecture professors Richard Wesley, AIA, and Ali Malkawi.

“The studio was a culmination of three years of different classes held at the university for the undergraduate students,” says Hayes. “The students studied various aspects of affordable housing design as well as the community-oriented issues surrounding the planning. It was a real-world program with real-world clients and stakeholders. PECCDC was the client and the community groups were the stakeholders. The students worked with them to define a program of what was important to the community.”

Students pen different design ideas
The University of Pennsylvania students were given the charge of conducting research on various aspects of low-cost housing. Explains Hayes, “We had 18 students in the class. We broke it into six different types of research, so six teams of three, with each team exploring and working on a different design scenario. After review by the community and client, we narrowed the design scenarios down to three options. We broke into three teams of six, each team working on a different design. We guided them, but it was the students who generated the sustainable concepts. At the end of the semester, we had another review, and the community and client selected the one scheme that made the most sense to them.”

When the semester ended, three of the students were selected to work in the BHA office for the summer, where Hayes provided mentorship. “They refined the design and developed working drawings so the project could be built, keeping in mind the rigid cost limitations,” says Hayes. “All we did was give them guidance and help them define, prioritize, and navigate the limitations associated with designing and building affordable housing.”

The students also studied alternative energy sources, for which they wrote grants

The students also worked with professor Ali Malkawi, who runs a sustainability workshop that consults worldwide. Adds Hayes, “He helped the students consider site-orientation issues to optimize the building, such as wind and sun patterns, and helped them look at various energy-saving building envelope possibilities, such as tight insulation. The students also studied alternative energy sources, such as photovoltaic panels for the roof and solar hot water heat, for which they wrote grants and are now waiting funding from the Pennsylvania Energy Development Authority.”

Sustainable features of the Bernice Elza Homes project also include:
• Natural day lighting and ventilation
• Storm water management techniques
• Low VOC paints and materials for interior finishes.

Learning professional practice
Hayes was very impressed with the architecture students. “They did a lot more work than we would typically do on a project of this scale. The students were highly motivated, very bright, and worked extremely hard at the whole thing. I was amazed at the amount of work they could generate in a week and how many different ideas they brought to the table. Their energy and enthusiasm were just amazing.

The students successfully navigated everything that architects would navigate in the world of professional practice

“At the end of the day, they still had to go through the traditional delivery method of funding, design, bid, and build—all the while dealing with budget limitations and various stakeholders’ interest. They successfully navigated everything that architects would navigate in the world of professional practice.”

Construction on the Bernice Elza Homes project is expected to take 9–10 months.