Argyle Gardens

Working under a Meyer Memorial Trust grant, Holst and our former client, non-profit Transition Projects, developed a flexible, affordable, low-cost housing prototype. Designed as a kit of parts that can be organized into various configurations, Low Income Single Adult Housing, or LISAH, is a dignified co-housing model designed to accommodate an optimum number of people to share community space and support. The modular system can be configured as formerly homeless, workforce, or student housing, or to house intergenerational families together.

The Kenton neighborhood of North Portland hosts the first buildout of LISAH — Argyle Gardens — on a sloped, oddly shaped, city-owned industrial site close to the MAX light rail line, bus lines, and commercial shopping areas. Argyle Gardens consists of four buildings containing 72 units oriented around a central outdoor space. The largest building contains 35 220-square-foot studio apartments. A large community room, laundry facilities, and support service offices serve as a central hub and communal gathering space for all residents. Each of three co-housing buildings feature two six-bedroom units with two shared bathrooms and a large kitchen.

Argyle Gardens' deeply affordable housing opened to low-income Portlanders and those formerly experiencing homelessness in April 2020. During this time of global hardship, Transition Projects is providing new units of housing for those who need it most. The co-housing approach, small unit sizes, and modular construction contributed to achieving development costs that were 31% lower than typical affordable housing projects, savings that are passed along to residents through rents as low as $300 a month.

Funded with low income tax credits from the state, the design of LISAH aims for maximum impact for minimal cost. Each building is composed of modular units constructed offsite. Gabled roof trusses, shingled roofs, and durable cladding will make the modular construction imperceptible from the exterior. Each building takes a simple rectilinear form with a slice removed to reveal color and translucent polycarbonate panels that bring vibrancy to the composition. 

The site's steep topography and existing vegetation provide privacy but challenged the design team to locate the buildings to balance ADA access requirements, environmental considerations, and the maintenance of the large staging area required for modular construction. The resulting careful calibration of siting meets those needs while minimizing direct solar heat gain on the polycarbonate walls, enabling the main entry stair towers to be unconditioned spaces.

The sustainable design of the project is rooted in tried and true approaches to resource efficiency: careful siting for climate, tight building envelope design for energy-efficiency and air tightness, and durable and healthy materials. The buildings include low flow plumbing fixtures, drought-resistant landscaping, low-VOC materials, LED light fixtures, and a rooftop photovoltaic array. The project was designed and constructed to an Earth Advantage Gold standard.

The polycarbonate wall panels, manufactured by Duoguard, are key to the design and functional success of the stair towers, creating translucency and enabling those spaces to remain unconditioned. Full-height panels create a seamless installation that greatly enhances the aesthetic effect, particularly at night.

Email interview conducted by John Hill.