Double-front is an infill housing prototype that begins with a stacked duplex to create a range of missing middle housing configurations for small downtowns like Fayetteville, Arkansas (population: 85,000). The stacked duplex can be combined and multiplied to create townhouses, foursquares, and bungalow courts—the middle-scale multifamily housing types of pre-suburban America (1940s). These and other multifamily housing typologies were abandoned in favor of single-family housing and large suburban garden apartments, thus the moniker missing middle. Low-and-middle-income households have not participated in the recent resurgence of downtown living since American downtowns lack the housing patterns to accommodate diverse households at affordable levels. From single building to block configuration, from back to front, the Double-front prototype offers a three-dimensional urban pattern language to solve for a range of infill scenarios, including downtown’s edge neighborhoods.
Awards
2021 The Plan Awards: Housing Future Finalist
Client
Fayetteville Public Facilities Board