Oftentimes, architectural design work neglects ADA requirements during early stages of design and attaches on last-minute attachments in an attempt to ‘fix’ their design. This project challenge conventional design approaches by putting ADA compliancy first and as the basis for the entire design.
*Project Graphic Style Inspired By New Yorker's Chris Ware
This project challenges conventional single-family homes which relies on stairs as their access to spatial variation by using a collision of geometric parts to create an ADA compliant, single-story, zero-threshold live-work house.
Each part of the house is attached to the living room, streamlining circulation through the entire project. All components of the house are adjusted to be ADA-compliant.
Each part of the house has its own unique form and are connected through a collision-like union. The house is then cookie-cuttered into a perfect circle. The areas that are cut are offered a new material index as well as a new system of windows, tying the project together with a commonality within each part.
The language of circles continue out to the gardens of the house, creating continuous pathways for all users. The pathways are all set at a 4.5’ wide to remain accessible to all users. Since there are no thresholds between the building and its landscape, all users are able to move freely in and out of the house .
Although unified in width, character of the house changes with different points of view by way of the composition between material and the parts of the house
External Material Index corresponds to external material of the parts and gives a similar experience of material composition both externally and internally.
The assembly of these parts are joined as a collision of forms where forms are overlapping or intruding upon each other. Since the house is only a single story, spatial variation is provided through each of the different parts with their different roof heights.
The house simultaneously hosting both domestic and professional environments, each acting as part of the ADA whole.
In addition to this being a Live-work house for a self-employed person with disabilities, the workspace in this house does not only accommodate for the owner, but also the employees they hire.
By way of being an ADA House, the employees without disabilities can experience a new system of proportions.