UNC Charlotte students pitch prefab housing concepts in national competition
The Charlotte Business Journal reported on the inaugural Housing Innovation Challenge and the participation of a team of students from the David R. Ravin School of Architecture.
The story by Symone Graham, excerpted below, includes interviews with the three UNC Charlotte student team leaders, Gabrielle Ciceron, Lela Holt and Sundus Abu Reyal, and faculty advisor Marc Manack:
“UNC Charlotte student Gabrielle Ciceron, also a Charlotte native, said the competition is personal. ‘I’ve seen the growth, and I’ve seen the feeling I get when I’m in Charlotte, and my goal is to help to steadily improve the housing issue,’ she told CBJ.
Her design places multiple units under one roof using attic trusses to create a second level without the cost of conventional full framing, while drawing on the architectural character of early Charlotte neighborhoods to avoid buildings that feel out of place culturally.
Lela Holt, also a UNC Charlotte student, developed a cottage court design, a duplex within a duplex, with four units arranged around a shared courtyard. She said the concept is a deliberate pushback against sprawl and isolation.
‘I wanted to focus on not just having the excesses of individualism and Charlotte sprawl,’ Holt said. ‘I wanted to push back on that and create a more community design.’
UNC Charlotte student Sundus Abu Reyal, who is new here, said the city’s rapid growth made the challenge immediately relevant to her.
‘Everywhere I go, every area there is a new apartment, a new house being built,’ she said.
Her modular design prioritizes adaptability across different family sizes and site conditions, and incorporates a light core between units for natural ventilation.
‘I wanted to give them a home, but without compromising quality of living and comfort,’ Abu Reyal added.
Manack said off-site construction is the connective thread across all three concepts. He added that industry partners need to think beyond the first prototype.
‘Even though the prototype is just one of one, they could see where it could go across many sites, particularly here in Charlotte,’ he said.
Manack went on to say that zoning remains a real constraint on affordability.
‘What’s driving gentrification is land cost, a lot of it,’ he said. ‘We need to have more density on each site. The more we can spread the cost of the land out across multiple units, the more that price will come down.'”
Read the full story at The Charlotte Business Journal.
Cover photo of teams at Housing Innovation Challenge courtesy of Tommy McCart Photography for the Housing Innovation Challenge.