23 Laurel Street Family Housing
Northampton, MA
23 Laurel Street Family Housing
23 Laurel Street is a 100% affordable family housing project consisting of 20 townhouse-style apartments in seven buildings on a very small 1.68-acre site in Northampton, MA. Austin Design Cooperative partnered with Valley Community Development Corporation and Berkshire Design Landscape Architects and Civil Engineers to design, permit, and bid the project. A courtyard floor plan was configured into multiple building types to create one-, two-, and three-bedroom units at small scale to fit within the low density neighborhood context. Site layout and features provide an accessible route from parking to each building, a playground, pavilion, and covered bike rack shelter. While not detailed to meet Passive House requirements, very high levels of insulation and attention to air sealing help these houses achieve Mass Save Level l standards. Like our other recent projects, this has all-electric, heat pump–based utilities, with rooftop PV solar to offset electric costs. It also has universal design and accessibility features with an accessible site, on-grade entrances, three fully accessible units, two adaptable units, and the remaining units all visitable on the ground floor.