Living Over the Store
2017
University of Oregon
A type of housing that allows a shop owner to live directly above their business. Located in London, this shophouse is nestled within a block of rowhouses and consists of two small businesses on the ground floor with three apartment units overhead. To the North is a semi-quiet residential street, and to the South is a multi-use public square. A covered passageway on the ground floor spans from North to South and bridges the two sides together, so that the businesses can be accessed from either side.
ground level: shops
levels 2 and 3: apartments
Each level consists of two separate open-plan units, with a shared plumbing/circulation/load-bearing core in the center. By condensing all of the fixed elements of the plan to the center, the rest of the building is free to be open and transparent. Modular, gridded shelving is present throughout all three levels of the plan. They function both as storage and as decorative screens. It is up to the resident to decide how to fill these shelves, until their desired level of privacy/openness is achieved.
Door and window openings in the upper apartment units are carefully aligned so that a person can stand at the North end of the apartment and see out of the windows to the South. An unblocked view through the entire unit allows the small space to feel open.
north elevation
section looking west