VIRTUAL Barcelona

Abstract

This presentation will use a case study project to demonstrate a community interactive collaboration between an institution of higher education in the United States and an architecture and design firm specializing in historic preservation and affordable housing projects. Students in the final year of a residential design-focused academic program at a land grant university worked with a team of designers and architects on an adaptive reuse project. A local middle school which had been closed due to low enrollment, was still owned by the Town who sought to develop the property into affordable housing which is a much-needed resource in the community. The supervising faculty member worked with the design team to interview community representatives about their needs for support spaces in the building. Universal Design was used to create all aspects of the design for the affordable dwelling units within the ca. 1960 era adaptive reuse project. The student team is composed of interior design, residential design, real estate and property management students and will use a Project Based Learning approach to create and interdisciplinary solution.