Yale School of Architecture Students Complete Prefab Housing for New Haven’s Homeless

TheJim Vlock Building Projectfor first-year students at Yale’s School of Architecture reinforces the connection between design and service for new students. To commemorate the program’s 50th year, a new prefabricated two-unit home on a narrow lot in New Haven’s Upper Hill neighborhood will help to end homelessness for its future tenants.

Tasked with building a “cost-efficient, flexible design that tackles replicability in material, means, and method of construction,” students created a 1,000-square-foot prefab structure that features a mix of concrete and hardwood flooring, with ample plywood-based options for storage. A steeply gabled roof gives the separate studio and two-bedroom units high ceilings, while boxy bay windows let in plenty of natural light.

Perhaps most impressively, many elements of the home were constructed in a warehouse miles away on Yale’s West Campus. The building’s walls, roof panels, floor assemblies, and bay windows were all prefabricated, which requires a great deal of foresight and planning to prevent snags that could otherwise be addressed on-site.

The Jim Vlock Building Project does more than just acclimate students to theprefab processand teach them about cost-effective design practices. It also exists to further the idea that architecture, public service, and civic engagement are intertwined. "It is our belief that architects and designers have an important role to play in addressing many of the most vexing issues of our time, including the shortage of affordable housing and making our cities more inclusive," says architect and School of Architecture deanDeborah Berke.

The newly completed structure was the first project realized in partnership with Columbus House, a New Haven nonprofit that helps the homeless. The organization will identify an individual and a family to occupy the home and also provide assistance with the rent.