UNC Charlotte team chosen to participate in national design-build challenge to address housing crisis
A team from the David R. Ravin School of Architecture has been chosen to participate in the inaugural Housing Innovation Challenge, a national design-build competition that brings students together with builders to help address the affordable housing crisis.
Led by founding partners Housing Innovation Alliance, Meritage Homes and Home Technology Ventures, with the City of Charlotte serving as the inaugural host city, the Housing Innovation Challenge is designed to accelerate promising housing solutions that can scale beyond a single project or market.
In the first phase of the Housing Innovation Challenge, 20 academic teams from across the country developed and submitted proposals. The design brief called for:
- two dwellings per lot that demonstrate high design quality, affordability and replicability;
- resilient materials, efficient utilities and intelligent systems to reduce long-term operating costs;
- respect for Charlotte’s neighborhood character, while advancing innovative building technologies and infill strategies.
Each team could submit up to three proposals. The students’ designs were then reviewed by a panel of academic and industry experts and representatives from the City of Charlotte, Housing Innovation Alliance and Home Technology Ventures.
Ten academic teams were chosen to advance. Teams were announced on May 20 at the 19th Housing Innovation Summit, held in Uptown Charlotte.
“We have to continue to build, for families, for our workforce, for our neighborhoods,” said Mayor Vi Lyles at the summit. ‘All of us should be thinking about how do we do something to make this city better.”
In addition to UNC Charlotte, the participants are Clemson University, Georgia Tech, Harvard University, University of Houston, Kean University, University of Texas at Austin, Virginia Tech, Washington State University and a collaborative team of students from Appalachian State University, UNC-Chapel Hill and NC State University.
Over the next 16 months, teams will refine their proposals and work with builders to prefabricate and install full-scale homes on lots in Charlotte. In October 2027, the completed homes will be on view during a multi-day public exhibition, before becoming occupied by residents.
Under the direction of Associate Professor Marc Manack, 13 Charlotte architecture students, organized into three teams, developed projects.
Team 1’s “Three Ply,” developed by Sundus Abu Reyal (leader), David Mba, David Peterson and Quincy Rackley, presents a modular design that can be adapted for two, three or four units built out of cross-laminated timber.
PROPOSAL VISUALS
“CottageCORE,” designed by Team 2 – Lela Holt (leader), Jeremiah Boswell, Sean Cornelius, Timothy Graham and Ashley Parsons – positions two duplexes around a cottage courtyard, increasing density and encouraging social connection.
PROPOSAL VISUALS
Team 3’s “Under One Roof,” designed by Gabrielle Ciceron (leader), Shane Deas, Jasmine McConnell and Meckayla Marc, integrates a primary residence and two accessory dwelling units into a single structure that features a generous front porch, adding density while keeping the appearance of a traditional home.
PROPOSAL VISUALS
For their project, the UNC Charlotte team has been assigned a lot on Pegram Street in the Belmont neighborhood. In courses this summer and fall, additional students will decide which of the three designs to pursue and will then refine the design and finalize construction documents, working with building partner BuildLabs.
“The Ravin School of Architecture is proud to support our students’ participation in the inaugural Housing Innovation Challenge,” said Blaine Brownell, director of the School of Architecture. “At a time when communities across the country face urgent housing challenges, it is essential that emerging designers develop innovative, interdisciplinary and forward-looking solutions that expand access, improve quality of life and reimagine the future of housing. This initiative reflects our school’s commitment to design excellence, research and community impact through creative problem-solving.”
Charlotte is the first of five cities that will host the Housing Innovation Challenge over a 10-year period. Like many cities across the country, Charlotte has seen home prices grow much faster than income. As a recent article by the UNC Charlotte Urban Institute explains, the median home price in Charlotte is nearly $444,000, requiring a household income of more than $146,000 to afford a typical home — almost double Mecklenburg County’s median household income.
“Charlotte is one of the fastest growing cities, with growing inequities, so we are trying to find ways for them to be in a starter home and really attain a home and maintain a home,” Bobby Vance, program director for the Housing Innovation Challenge, told WCNC. “Charlotte was the perfect young vibrant city looking for change and also looking to attract people to move here.”
Cover photo of team leaders Gabrielle Ciceron, Sundus Abu Reyal and Lela Holt courtesy of Tommy McCart Photography for the Housing Innovation Challenge.