The Picket Fence is a three-story home that includes a 2,007-square-foot townhome + 660-square-foot full studio ADU with an entry porch on the ground floor, and a main home above with three bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms, a flex space, an entry porch, and a front-facing covered deck. With a modern design and features that homebuyers want and are willing to pay for, the final result will be a home that was built in a drastically different way than traditional stick-built homes, yet nearly impossible to differentiate visually from the interior or exterior. With a deep commitment to making the home as livable as possible, the partners prioritized design choices that would nurture social connections, relaxation and personal well-being — all of which are factors the America at Home Study identified as critically important.

"The insights we gathered from the America at Home Study showed us pressing changes in how people want to live today," said Teri Slavik-Tsuyuki, co-founder of the America at Home Study and principal of tst ink. "As a concept home, The Picket Fence will have clear and measurable data to track, allowing us to share our learnings. Experimental housing solutions are essential if we want to make a dent in America's housing crisis."

The Picket Fence design offers two separate units within the same structure, providing a range of livability options that align with renters' diverse lifestyles. This two-unit solution not only enhances the efficiency of the living space but also maintains the aesthetic integrity of the home, a feat that would be challenging with a single unit design. By offering proper square footages for attainable rental costs and an efficient modular construction, The Picket Fence aims to support the financial well-being of renters while delivering an appealing and practical living environment.

"When designing The Picket Fence, we sought to create a home that caters to the needs and aspirations of a millennial demographic, providing them with a modern and vibrant living space, all while addressing their critical housing concerns including affordability, energy and operating costs, and how their home supports overall well-being," said Ryan White, director of design at DAHLIN Architecture | Planning | Interiors.


A Local Approach and its Scalability for Nationwide Adoption

Tackling housing attainability and pressing environmental concerns head on, this concept home is a controllable template that can be replicated in any market. The Picket Fence intends to be a beacon of inspiration for construction and home industry professionals to not only remain competitive, but also to make a lasting change.

"The Picket Fence serves a much larger purpose, because it's a symbol of possibility that demonstrates the power of collaborative innovation," said Dennis Steigerwalt, president of the Housing Innovation Alliance. "Design, manufacturing, and construction professionals can come together to bring rapid transformation toward a healthier future. Your city might have plans to reduce its environmental impact over the next decade, but we don't have to wait that long. The data shows that consumers want it and we're enabling a pathway for them to get it. We're creating something really special with The Picket Fence and we believe this concept home will have a ripple effect that extends far beyond Pittsburgh."

Further expanding the results of wave three of the America at Home Study, the partners are also developing a for-sale concept home in Pittsburgh, The 412, that will start construction later this year. For more information about The Picket Fence, please visit americaathomestudy.com.


About The Picket Fence Concept Home

The Picket Fence is a physical manifestation of the shifts in living behaviors and needs of Americans during early, peak, and post-pandemic times. Envisioned and realized by three women leaders in the homebuilding industry who also serve as the America at Home Study founders, the new factory built concept home in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania is the collective effort of DAHLIN Architecture | Planning | Interiors (architect), Structural Modular Innovations, LLC (manufacturer), EcoCraft Homes (builder), and Housing Innovation Alliance (developer). The Picket Fence is a for-rent townhome + accessory dwelling unit anticipated to open in late 2023. The intent is to inspire new ways builders and architects can think about designing healthier high-performance homes using modern methods of construction, while maintaining a focus on market attainability.


About the America at Home Study

The America at Home Study (americaathomestudy.com) was hosted online in three waves, revealing Americans' desire for home purchases, how they feel about and live in their homes, and what changes they'd like to see as a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The first wave took place April 23-30, 2020, with a nationally representative sample of 3,001 consumers 25-74 years of age with household incomes of $50,000+. The second wave took place September 24-November 6, 2020, with 3,935 responses, and the third wave took place October 6-31, 2022, with 3,000 responses. The America at Home Study was spearheaded by community design and marketing expert Teri Slavik-Tsuyuki of tst ink, consumer strategist Belinda Sward of Strategic Solutions Alliance, and architect Nancy Keenan, president of DAHLIN. The second and third waves were further enhanced with Kantar's MindBase^TM consumer attitudinal and generational segmentation, providing deeper insights across 12 unique consumer targets.

The America at Home Study is the only longitudinal study of consumer behavior, values and attitudes about home and community, accumulating more than 10,000 responses nationwide during early, peak, and post-pandemic times. "Studying and reflecting on the consumer data collected since the America at Home Study's inception in 2020, we have a clear view of the behavior and lifestyle trends that emerged, escalated and endured," said community design and marketing expert Teri Slavik-Tsuyuki, who spearheaded the study with consumer strategist Belinda Sward and architect Nancy Keenan, president of DAHLIN. "It has led to the creation of two new concept homes that will address these lasting changes and spark important dialogue about adopting more progressive home design and construction practices. The Picket Fence and The 412 will focus on the livability and buildability of attainable market rate for-rent and for-sale homes."

Both concept homes will be built in an offsite factory using a modern method of construction called volumetric modular construction, a process that is only currently used in 6% of housing starts in the U.S.¹ This homebuilding solution means consistently higher quality homes, reduced environmental impacts and construction waste, and more predictable, faster delivery times.

"These concept homes will bring attention to the scalable benefits of using modern methods of construction to create livable, healthy, and sustainable homes," said Dennis Steigerwalt, president of the Housing Innovation Alliance. "By demonstrating the benefits of volumetric modular construction—just one of numerous methods in the larger building technology-solutions mix designed to bring more precision and consistency—we aim to inspire more builders and developers to consider alternative construction processes that optimize resources to address the design and build aspects of the current housing shortage and create a more environmentally responsible, energy-efficient, and attainable housing market."

From Blueprint to Reality: A Tale of Two Homes

The concept homes are driven by the principle that space, material, and construction decisions must support holistic wellness across all domains for a better, healthier life. This guiding principle aligns with the study's latest findings that wellness is more than just a design driver, but for the first time it's also a key purchase motivator.

The Picket Fence is a three-story, 2,007-square-foot townhome + 660-square-foot ADU, anticipated to open in October 2023. The ground floor is a full studio home with an entry porch. The main home above includes three bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms, a flex space, an entry porch, and covered deck. The home is a rental, designed for Trail Blazers, a millennial demographic identified using Kantar's MindBase^TM consumer attitudinal and generational segmentation, who seek a modern and sustainable living space that suits their active urban lifestyle.

Anticipated to open in April 2024, The 412 is a paired townhome consisting of two 2,024-square-foot residences. Each for-sale three-story home will include three bedrooms, 3.5 bathrooms, a loft, an office, one-bay garage, and multiple outdoor living spaces including an entry porch, covered patio, oversized roof deck, and more. Tailored to meet the needs of Full Throttles—a segment of younger baby boomers identified by Kantar's MindBase^TM segmentation who have a greater interest than other groups in wellness home features like energy and water conservation, eliminating chemicals, air filtration, climate control via smart devices, and solar—The 412 is being designed for buyers who are motivated to buy based on a desire to improve their health.

"Design is not just about aesthetics, but about creating intentional spaces that enhance the way we live, beyond the conventional ways of thinking about specific rooms," said Ryan White, director of design at DAHLIN Architecture | Planning | Interiors. "We're challenging conventional design standards to create spaces that truly support the needs of today's renters and buyers, reconsidering every aspect to ensure homes provide not only shelter, but spaces that make people feel better."

Building the Future Today with Volumetric Modular Construction

To set a new benchmark in sustainable and resilient construction, the America at Home Study concept home team is pursuing three tangible goals with important ESG considerations, including the documentation of embodied carbon emissions, construction waste, and healthy home performance metrics throughout the lifecycle of these homes.

The first goal is to reduce the carbon footprint of the homes by 70% compared to equivalent site-built construction, a desirable goal given that commercial and residential buildings account for 36% of total U.S. carbon emissions². By constructing homes in a factory setting and carefully selecting raw materials and products with lower environmental impacts, the concept homes will reduce both embodied carbon and operational carbon emissions. Each home will also meet the Department of Energy's Zero Energy Ready Home Program, providing a measurable way to reduce energy consumption and reliance on non-renewable sources.

The second goal is to reduce construction waste by at least 90% compared to an equivalent site-built home, demonstrating that factory-built homes can reduce significant construction waste through efficiency and recycling.

The third goal is to build higher-performance homes with healthier indoor environments and energy resilience in the face of a major weather event. Contaminant-resistant construction practices and whole house ventilation systems with high capture filtration technologies will provide healthier indoor air quality. Comprehensive thermal protection, effective water barrier systems, and advanced technologies ensure comfort, energy efficiency, and durability. The homes will include systems for clean water filtration and environmentally sensitive home energy management, while a single source dashboard will easily let homeowners track their energy usage and make more informed decisions to conserve resources.

"With optimized design, we're prioritizing material choices that are both planet and people friendly, while also profitable for the industry," said Eric Newhouse, vice president of innovation at Structural Modular Innovations and factory liaison to EcoCraft Homes. "Sustainability and profitability are not mutually exclusive and we're confident these homes will be a resilient business case for all aspects of the industry including financing, trades, builders, and manufacturers."

Further details about The 412 and The Picket Fence will be forthcoming as development progresses, including a digital experience by d3 Creative that will allow prospective buyers and visitors to interact with the homes virtually. The 412 is also a demonstration home project in collaboration with Pro Builder Media and SGC-Horizon. For more information and to follow the home's progress through completion, please visit pbthe412home.com and americaathomestudy.com.

About The Picket Fence and The 412 Concept Homes

The Picket Fence and The 412 concept homes are a physical manifestation of the shifts in living behaviors and needs of Americans during early, peak, and post-pandemic times. Envisioned and realized by three women leaders in the homebuilding industry who also serve as the America at Home Study founders, the new factory built concept homes in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania are the collective effort of DAHLIN Architecture | Planning | Interiors (architect), Structural Modular Innovations, LLC (manufacturer), EcoCraft Homes (builder), and Housing Innovation Alliance (developer). The Picket Fence, a for-rent townhome + accessory dwelling unit, and The 412, a for-sale paired townhome, are anticipated to open in October 2023 and April 2024, respectively. The intent is to inspire new ways builders and architects can think about designing healthier high-performance homes using modern methods of construction, while maintaining a focus on market attainability.

About the America at Home Study

The America at Home Study (americaathomestudy.com) was hosted online in three waves, revealing Americans' desire for home purchases, how they feel about and live in their homes, and what changes they'd like to see as a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The first wave took place April 23-30, 2020, with a nationally representative sample of 3,001 consumers 25-74 years of age with household incomes of $50,000+. The second wave took place September 24-November 6, 2020, with 3,935 responses, and the third wave took place October 6-31, 2022, with 3,000 responses. The America at Home Study was spearheaded by community design and marketing expert Teri Slavik-Tsuyuki of tst ink, consumer strategist Belinda Sward of Strategic Solutions Alliance, and architect Nancy Keenan, president of DAHLIN. The second and third waves were further enhanced with Kantar's MindBase^TM consumer attitudinal and generational segmentation, providing deeper insights across 12 unique consumer targets.

¹ Modular Building Institute: https://www.modular.org/2023/02/24/one-federal-code-for-modular-construction/
² U.S. DOE Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy "Carbon Emissions in a Typical New Production Home: A Case Study," February 2023

Among the new insights, the America at Home Study accurately predicted how many Americans would purchase a new home from 2020 to 2022. In 2020, 16% of renters and owners surveyed said they were more inclined to purchase a new home due to COVID-19. Wave three confirmed 16% of homeowners purchased in the last two years, creating the recent real estate boom. Looking ahead, results from wave three forecast an optimistic look for new home demand, with 51% of renters across all generations noting their intent to purchase a home in the next three years.

Another notable finding, "home" evokes more positive emotions than at the start of the pandemic and is more important than ever. When asked, "What does home mean?," the top answers grew in importance. Americans associate home as a safe space first (93%, up from 89%), followed by comfort (91%, up from 86%) and relaxation (87%, up from 82%).

Post-Pandemic Wellness Drives New Motivations Across All Generations

Wave three uncovered new understandings about the well-being of Americans and how personal wellness influences lifestyle and home preferences. Coming out of the pandemic, Americans are more attuned to the different dimensions of health and wellness, but they feel less well overall.

People are significantly less satisfied with their well-being across multiple dimensions, suggesting there's a more critical role for homes to help improve this. In October 2020 (wave two), there was a 17% gap between the importance of physical wellness and the stated satisfaction respondents felt with it, with that gap jumping to 34% in October 2022 (wave three). Similarly, the same gap grew for both financial wellness (from 21% to 32%) and emotional wellness (from 16% to 24%). For all generations, all areas of well-being increased in importance since 2020. Emotional well-being is now the most important area

overall (89%, up from 83%), followed by financial well-being (86%, up from 83%), mental health (85%, up from 80%), and physical health/fitness (83%, up from 76%).

"Up to 80% of our health outcomes are related to our physical environment, and the rising importance of all elements of well-being are driving new motivations for the physical spaces we want in our homes and communities," said Teri Slavik-Tsuyuki, Co-Founder of America at Home Study, Principal at tsk ink LLC, and Co-Chair of the Global Wellness Institute's Wellness Communities & Real Estate Initiative. "Saving money used to be the top reason Americans were interested in wellness features in a home, but wave three shows that now it's just as important these features improve our health and wellness. Financial wellness still matters, but Americans value wellness in a more holistic way today."

The importance of emotional well-being is reflected in people's hopes for their futures as well. When asked what they were most hopeful for, respondents selected "immediate family" (62%), followed by "a better, healthier me" (39%) and "my home" (34%). Furthermore, when respondents ranked the most important rooms in their homes, they identified the family room (46%), primary bedroom (19%), and kitchen (18%) as most important.

In contrast, respondents stated their biggest concerns were inflation (62%), the economy/jobs (36%) and climate change (31%). Despite those worries, it's interesting that only 15% of respondents said they are putting off big purchase decisions like buying a new home or car. Additionally, with climate change as a top three concern, it's notable that there was a predominance of eco-friendly home features selected when respondents expressed the attributes in a home that were important to their wellness. A private outdoor space or garden (67%) and energy conservation (65%) were top priorities for wellness, followed by water conservation (54%), eliminating chemicals and VOCs (54%), low energy windows (52%) and a home that minimizes impact on the environment (46%).

These features – in addition to the most important rooms – embody what home really means to consumers: a place that provides comfort, security, relaxation, and a gathering space for family, which is also linked to their feelings about improving their personal health and wellness.

"We've already shown that Americans have strong opinions about what they want in a new home, but the insights from wave three brought underlying wellness considerations to the surface, helping us see the strong relationship between personal well-being and what we want from our physical environments," said Nancy Keenan, Co-Founder of the America at Home Study and President of DAHLIN Architecture | Planning | Interiors. "With the overarching desire for better wellness, the lasting reality of lifestyle changes including hybrid work, and the stated importance of home, this creates an abundance of new home design opportunities. The struggle for both shared and individual spaces that work for multiple purposes should guide builders, architects, developers and other home professionals as we plan new ways of living in the future."

Changes in Behavior Spur Changes in Surroundings

Even though the importance of home is expanding, the physical home may not need to. Data between waves two and three showed a 20% increase in renters who would be at least "somewhat willing" to accept a smaller yard. Additionally, 50% of people are "somewhat willing" to accept a "smaller than

ideal" home. To better understand this, it's important to recognize the in-home and community features Americans desire.

Different generations showed varied interests and priorities, but when asked about home features that were missing in their homes today, three specific features took the top spots across the board. Millennials favored expanded and better designed storage above all (62%), while storage came in second for Gen X and Baby Boomers (54% and 49%, respectively). The most important home feature for Gen X and Baby Boomers was greater technology and energy efficiency (58% and 50%, respectively), which was second most important for Millennials (59%). For every generation, the third most important home feature was a better equipped kitchen for cooking (Millennials at 58%, Gen X at 47%, and Baby Boomers at 38%).

Beyond the home, community features are also important for post-pandemic American lifestyles. Wave three revealed new data indicating a large portion of respondents want a new home with walkable access to coffee shops and casual eateries (43%). This was previously unidentified as an important community feature, yet now it outranks quintessential community features like small parks with seating (40%), farmers markets (38%), gym/fitness facilities (37%) and outdoor fitness spaces (36%).

"There is a robust consumer mindset for homes and communities that support how people want to live today, and that doesn't have to mean a big home or a big yard. It means a home that works for different family formations and helps people live better, healthier lives," said Belinda Sward, Co-Founder of the America at Home Study and Founder of Strategic Solutions Alliance. "Home means so much more since the COVID-19 pandemic. It is a place of refuge and reflection, an extension of who we are, as individuals and as families."

From Speculation to Confirmation: How the Need for Data Became a Growing Commitment

The third wave of the Study aligns with the first two waves as a nationally representative survey of 3,000 U.S. adults between the ages of 25-74 with an annual household income of $50,000 per year or more. The Study was hosted by Gazelle Global Research in October 2022, then appended with Kantar's MindBase^TM syndicated consumer attitudinal segmentation. Altogether, the America at Home Study has collected insights from nearly 10,000 people across all three waves.

"Kantar is excited to bring a generational lens to the America at Home Study. Digging into generational differences is at the core of what we do, and we're eager to see the impact these findings will have on product and service designers," said J. Walker Smith, Knowledge Lead at Kantar. "This data shows consumer needs are changing in fundamental ways. Home is the center of life and increasingly part of what we see in the wellness space. How we live and what we want from our homes is evolving in very specific ways, and homebuilders who heed this knowledge will have a competitive edge and understand how to create the value people are looking for in homes in the coming years."

About the America at Home Study

The America at Home Study (americaathomestudy.com) was hosted online in three waves, revealing Americans' desire for home purchases, how they feel about and live in their homes, and what changes they'd like to see as a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The first wave took place April 23-30, 2020 with a nationally representative sample of 3,001 consumers 25-74 years of age with household incomes of $50,000+. The second wave took place September 24 – November 6, 2020 with a nationally representative sample of 3,935 consumers in the same age and income brackets. The third wave took place October 6-31, 2022 with a nationally representative sample of 3,000 consumers in the same age and income brackets. The America at Home Study was spearheaded by marketing expert Teri Slavik-Tsuyuki of tst ink, consumer strategist Belinda Sward of Strategic Solutions Alliance, and architect Nancy Keenan, president of DAHLIN. The second and third waves were further enhanced with Kantar's MindBase^TM consumer attitudinal and generational segmentation, providing deeper insights across twelve unique consumer targets and enabling potential for direct/digital activation and enhanced messaging.

About the Panel Discussion
As planners and architects, it is our practice to design homes that understand and respond to the existing fabric of a neighborhood. While zoning regulations and design guidelines define the framework we must work within, placemaking guides how we design within the framework to enhance the neighborhood and community that is already there. From this solutions-based perspective, Senior Principal and Senior Architect Lauri Moffet-Fehlberg moderates a focused discussion with Director of Design Ryan White and Senior Planner Ritu Raj Sharma on the legislation and what we believe the impact to neighborhood character and stability may be.

See below for a few project examples we believe demonstrate contextually appropriate design of increasing density within single-family neighborhoods.

In Harmony: New Expressions Fit for a Historic Neighborhood

With Seattle encouraging density in communities close to downtown, the redevelopment of McGraw Square at Queen Anne demonstrates successful design approaches to increasing residential density at a city block scale. As with so many older city neighborhoods, McGraw Square faced a variety of site and edge conditions that required creative design integration, from the renovation of a school building dating back to the 1800s to the preservation of mature, on-site trees within an historic neighborhood of cobblestone streets. Overcoming difficult site grades and overlapping city regulations, the unique mixed character and expression of architecturally classic and contemporary townhomes were seamlessly integrated into this historic Seattle neighborhood.

Micro Lots Offer Density Next to Transit

Located across the street from Caltrain Station 361 in downtown Mountain View, this infill neighborhood replaces outdated concrete office tilt-ups with affordable, small lot homes and townhomes, that recall the eclectic character of early California 1920s and '30s neighborhoods. In particular, micro lots with two- and three-story micro homes with single car garages, are mixed into the neighborhood offering "affordable by design" housing. The product increases the overall density of the single-family neighborhood without impacting the visual scale and character of the surrounding community.

Increasing Density with Accessory Dwelling Units

Our current housing inventory is an echo; it's an artifact of a different time in our history. The Link concept looks at removing barriers to affordable and accessible housing by creating a multigenerational community that challenges some of the current thoughts on how we live in neighborhoods today. Across three single-family lots in Cleveland's Old Brooklyn neighborhood, the study evaluates the transferability and increase of density with consideration of modular home construction applied to accessory dwelling units. The respect of existing neighborhood character is met with new ideas on how to build healthy, social neighborhood engagement and interaction.

Our three-part campaign involved the launch of a COVID-19 webpage to serve as a client resource for design thinking that was shaping the post-pandemic built environment; publishing timely and relevant stories; and sharing the content across all social media platforms to engage discussion, collaboration and problem-solving.

As part of the meaningful work we are doing to help others and help community, we continue to support our communities, clients and industry by connecting to one another and keeping the Conversations going.

As a member of the NAHB DEI Taskforce, DAHLIN is an active signatory of the DEI Compact, and we urge our industry colleagues to consider signing as well. While we recognize it is a small step, we believe it to be an important one for laying the foundation for meaningful change to occur.

You can review the Compact, the press release and other materials by going to www.nahb.org/DEI and join us in helping to move the association and the building industry forward.

With the design of the concept home developed by Dahlin Group Architecture Planning, it is expected to be the first new home designed and built in real response to the radical changes afoot in American home life during what has become an abrupt and historic lifestyle shift. Laser-focused on bringing the concept home to as many people as possible, the team has also engaged with customer experience property technology firm Cecilian Partners to create and demonstrate a digital modern community and home shopping experience that can be accessed from any device, and will provide real-time feedback into the areas of the home most important to consumers.

"The way we live is forever changing, as evidenced by the America at Home Study findings over the course of this past year," said community design and marketing expert Teri Slavik-Tsuyuki, who spearheaded the study with consumer strategist Belinda Sward and architect Nancy Keenan, president and CEO of Dahlin Group Architecture Planning. "When Americans initially entered lockdown, nobody could have predicted the widespread changes that would ultimately manifest. We wanted to proactively gather as much feedback as possible from homeowners and renters in real time to determine precise changes that would impact the homebuilding industry in the future. We knew the best way to convey the changes in American home life would be to build a concept home that accurately represented the findings we gathered and focused on the full potential of all the spaces in the home, even as needs change."

The concept home is designed for a hypothetical older Millennial family where one parent works from home and the other works outside the home. The home is a 2,600-square-foot, two-story home with 4 bedrooms and 3.5 baths, and sits on a 45-foot alley-loaded lot. With America at Home Study findings top of mind, design considerations and key decisions for the concept home will include separate

homeowner and guest entryways, two dedicated office spaces and additional flex spaces, a guest suite with outdoor access, a larger secondary bathroom, multiple outdoor spaces, better storage and more.

"Thanks to the America at Home Study and responses from almost 7,000 people, we know the ways people want to live, but the concept home is our chance to show how that can become a physical and widespread reality," said Alaina Money-Garman, CEO and co-founder of Garman Homes. "It's more than simply installing easy-to-clean textiles and appliances; it's about offering homeowners a different way to experience home. Every square foot was discussed and thoughtfully optimized. The floor plan is configured differently than anything we've ever done, and we want to make it realistic and attainable for buyers to purchase." Nancy Keenan says, "The shifts we're experiencing at home right now aren't something we just want to study; we're putting the findings into practice. The concept home is how we plan to walk our talk; it's a home built for how people want to live in today's world, and we can't wait for people to experience it."

The base price of the concept home is just under the median new home price of $444,500 in Chatham County and the actual concept home is expected to be priced in the mid $500,000s, with a high priority focus on implementing key features that consumers signaled they'd be willing to pay for in the America At Home Study. This will provide designers, builders and developers with a competitive advantage as they seek to create the kind of homes that people want in the post-pandemic world.

The virtual concept home will be an interactive modern digital customer experience designed to give future residents a way to see and explore the home and community digitally. The interactive immersive map and website will help tell the America at Home Study and concept home story while showcasing the area and lifestyle in Chatham Park where the home is being built. The team at d3 Creative is creating a digital 3D model of the home to showcase multiple design configurations that will allow future residents to explore the home from the comfort of their couch by either desktop or mobile device. The virtual concept home gives potential buyers transparency and agency, allowing access to all the information and letting them explore the concept home in their own way, at their own pace - truly a frictionless shopping experience.

Further details about the concept home, including the digital experience, will be forthcoming as development progresses. For more information, visit concepthome.garmanhomes.com

About the Concept Home

The concept home is a physical manifestation of the behavior and perspective changes Americans experienced at home during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Envisioned and realized by three women leaders in the homebuilding industry who also serve as the America at Home Study founders, the concept home is the collective effort of Dahlin Group Architecture Planning (architect), Garman Homes (builder), and Cecilian Partners (digital customer experience). The concept home is located in Chatham Park in Pittsboro, N.C. and is anticipated to open in early summer 2021. The intent is to inspire new ways builders and architects can think about designing homes in the post-pandemic world. concepthome.garmanhomes.com

About the America at Home Study

The America at Home Study was hosted online in two waves during the COVID-19 pandemic. The first wave took place April 23-30, 2020 with a nationally representative sample of 3,001 consumers ages 25-74 with household incomes of $50,000+. The second wave took place September 24–November 6 with a nationally representative sample of 3,935 consumers in the same age and income brackets. The America

at Home Study was spearheaded by marketing expert Teri Slavik-Tsuyuki of tst ink, consumer strategist Belinda Sward of Strategic Solutions Alliance, and architect Nancy Keenan, president and CEO of Dahlin Group Architecture Planning. The second wave was further enhanced with Kantar's MindBase^® consumer attitudinal and generational segmentation, providing deeper insights across nine unique consumer targets and enabling potential for direct/digital activation and enhanced messaging. The results reveal Americans' desire for home purchases, how they feel about and live in their homes, and what changes they'd like as a direct result of sheltering in place. www.americaathomestudy.com

The concept home is expected to be the first new home designed and built in real response to the COVID-19 pandemic and how Americans want to live in their homes today. Based on consumer insights from two national America at Home studies, the home is anticipated to open in Chatham Park in Pittsboro, N.C. in early summer 2021.

(Image courtesy of Dahlin Group Architecture Planning and Garman Homes)

Do not expect a return to rows of private offices as a means to protect employees from COVID-19. Creative office space evolved as a way for people to interact with each other more openly and easily. Humans still want collaboration and interaction, so we will find ways to make that happen safely. The old ways of individual enclosed offices are certainly not desirable under these circumstances either.

DAHLIN co-sponsored the America at Home Study, a nationally representative study of over 3,000 US adults to understand the design changes consumers want in new homes and communities. We are advising our clients on these results and making changes to home design that emphasize the most important features to those surveyed – safety, comfort and family.

As retail centers adapt to post pandemic changes in consumer behavior, owners will look at what Westfield did at UTC as an example of successfully integrating housing. While the Palisade UTC is a high-priced condo project, traditional malls elsewhere can be excellent sites for integrating affordable housing. Whether market rate or affordable, we will see an increase in the integration of housing into retail more rapidly than what we were already seeing before the pandemic.

Implementation of a gridded development structure with multiple connection options has already enabled cities to create slow streets, which are providing their residents with much needed temporary outdoor spaces, an option not possible in suburban development with cul-de-sacs and dead-end streets. While the slow streets have been a welcome respite for citizens practicing social distancing, these measures are temporary. Furthermore, they were designed to primarily move cars, keeping differing transportation modes apart. However, this collective experience may provide a greater understanding of our need for more transformational spaces that can be leveraged to support designing more streets that can be shared at all times, with an emphasis on the plurality so that all modes of movement feel more at ease. Incorporation of paseos and multi-use trails that provide alternative ways to get around should also be integrated with the street network. And as we do so, create more breathing room in the spaces designed primarily for movement, such as our sidewalks and walkways.

Open Space
This experience has also highlighted the importance to public and personal health of creating opportunities for more people to have access to open spaces both private and shared. Jurisdictions should adjust their requirements for private and common open space, especially for projects at higher densities. For example, prioritizing private open spaces, such as balconies and decks over shared community open spaces. As balconies, stoops and porches became the window and the connection to the outside world, there also was a growing realization that they do need to be a minimum size to accommodate usability. The balconies and decks not only provided personal breathing room, but also a space for quarantined folks to physically connect to the surrounding community. It is therefore imperative that as we design these spaces we pay attention to their location to each other and to the public realm. As another example, transitional open spaces, such as stoops and porches, also provide a personal refuge as well as promoting interaction with the community.

Even in community open spaces we need spaces that can be segmented for use by a variety of users, creating smaller, break away spaces within the overall space. Equipping those spaces with anti-microbial materials as well as ensuring ample sunlight exposure for shared surfaces provides an array of multi-faceted public health solutions. Additionally, elements, like benches and street furniture, should be evaluated for flexibility, such as incorporating movable furniture that can be re-arranged according to needs as an alternative to large, stationary benches and picnic tables.

This experience has given society a new perspective on how we live and how the way we plan and design our communities can evolve to enhance our resiliency in the future.

For example, in multifamily properties, the common area doors that are touched to take out the trash or get fresh air or ways to receive deliveries without physical interaction are areas that are prime for retooling. Through these challenges, there is an opportunity to consider how to design multifamily buildings to support the health of residents, according to DAHLIN Group.

To date, unit size has trended downward as the focus has shifted to fostering social interactions through thoughtfully designed community amenities. For example, small or no decks particularly in for-rent product in favor of shared amenities provide opportunities to design more attainable housing and support resident interaction.

"But as we are experiencing, there are times when physical interaction must be restricted for a greater good," Padru Kang, DAHLIN Group senior associate/senior designer, tells GlobeSt.com. "Looking forward, it will be important to reconsider how we define optimal indoor/outdoor space ratios to ensure that as many people as possible have access to private outdoor space. As we do so, it is equally important to avoid the trap of becoming overly introverted and isolated."

This can be accomplished by ensuring that unit decks overlook a common open space, providing both a connection to the building community and private outdoor space. Equipping these private outdoor spaces with planters for gardening provides both an activity that supports an overall sense of well-being and an option for growing fresh herbs or produce to support less frequent trips to the grocery store. Designs should also capitalize on opportunities to visually engage with the broader neighborhood context and street activity to further reduce a feeling of isolation. Community spaces will continue to be important as these spaces address the innate need to connect.

The design opportunity is in how to design these spaces for maximum relevancy when facing threats to community health. Creating smaller breakaway spaces within a larger space such as a roof deck, community room or game room are all ways to accommodate social distancing protocols.

Ensuring these spaces have ample sunlight, air circulation and purification systems, viral- and bacterial-resistant furnishings and fixtures as well as integration of touchless automated door systems or sanitation stations provide an array of multi-faceted solutions to reduce the spread of illness within shared spaces, DAHLIN points out.

COVID-19 has accelerated increased reliance on delivery services with a new emphasis on reducing the need for physical contact to facilitate drop-off and pick-up. This protects both delivery personnel as well as residents.

"Coded drop-box systems–previously seen as a nice perk–may become a must-have amenity for potential residents," Ritu Raj Sharma, senior associate/senior planner with DAHLIN Group, tells GlobeSt.com. "When considering where to keep the essential items that people stock up on, unit design should strive to provide reasonably sized pantries, even in smaller unit footprints."

Moreover, the DAHLIN team has seen an increase in the inclusion of co-working spaces within multifamily product. While COVID-19 has forced entire industries to transition to full-time work from home operations overnight, the unique challenges of this time have made these co-working spaces temporarily irrelevant.

This provides future design opportunities. In-unit design, incorporating alcoves that can flex to a work-from-home space or a learn-from-home space as needed in the face of school closures–provides a space-conscious solution, says DAHLIN.

Additionally, re-thinking the design of co-working spaces in ways like the aforementioned community spaces provides solutions to maximize the utility of co-working spaces. For example, incorporating touchless entry points, air purification systems, viral/bacterial-resistant furnishings and fixtures, and perhaps moveable walls to allow for the creation of private, smaller spaces would be applicable fixes as needed.

Co-living, another multifamily trend that was gaining traction, faces unique challenges. However, re-thinking the design of these units holds potential solutions.

Some projects may have opportunities to provide private entries to bedrooms as opposed to a common point of entry through a communal space. Alternatively, integrating touchless entry into common areas as well as illness-spreading hotspot areas such as bathrooms are potential solutions. Touchless light and faucet fixtures as well as appliances further minimize the opportunity for contaminating shared surfaces. Air purification systems zoned by room are another consideration.

Even outside of co-living communities, roommate situations are very common in the for-rent multifamily market. Therefore, many of these same smart home technologies which enable touchless operation of otherwise commonly touched surfaces are highly relevant solutions as well, says DAHLIN.

"As we all do our part to flatten the curve, let us apply our collective human ingenuity to adapt existing buildings and design new buildings to better support our health and well-being at all times," Kang tells GlobeSt.com.

Now that our collective awareness is acutely attuned to the health implications in how any multistory building, whether commercial or residential in use, handles air, water, sunlight, and interior materials impacts the spread of infectious disease, widespread adoption of sustainability practices offer solutions to keep us all healthier and safer. Workplaces will be among the early adopters with consumer-facing retail and service businesses quick to follow.

For example, air purification systems, zoned HVAC systems, humidification, and fresh air exchange significantly reduces how long a microbe remains in the air. Water purification and re-use systems protect the water supply and conserve the resource. Integrating access to the outdoors – whether on or above ground – help to maintain a connection to nature. Designing buildings to maximize access to the sun allows the UV rays of sunlight to naturally disinfect air and surfaces in addition to supporting our mental health, especially important when spending so much time indoors.

Take it a step further, equip buildings with UV-based devices for individual use as an alternative to harsh, chemical-based disinfectants, such as chlorine bleach and alcohol-based sanitizers that can leave toxic residue or result in resistant microbes as has occurred in healthcare settings. A focus on materials innovation in our paints that go beyond low VOC to limiting how long microbes can survive, and fabrics that are non-toxic, yet durable enough to endure disinfecting practices, can make a significant contribution to health and environment. Additionally, bringing back naturally antimicrobial materials, such as copper and brass, on high-touch surfaces is another option. More widespread adoption of touchless features for doors, bathroom fixtures, lights, and air-conditioning minimize the need to touch otherwise high-touch surfaces as well as reducing the need to continuously disinfect those surfaces, especially with toxic chemicals.

Design buildings with an entry mudroom or clean room, with lockers to change from outdoor shoes to indoor shoes, sinks to wash your hands, and possibly a dry spray for your clothes, all at a social distance. Restrooms should have wipes or cleaner available at all sinks and stalls, and everything from the elevator controls to the door controls touchless – wave a hand to open a door, show phone code to get to your floor, or use a fob. Changes in space planning that incorporate multiple pathways through a space and more convenient stair options (with disposable gloves for the railing) as an alternative to elevators support social distancing protocols when those are in place.

As the country prepares to ease shelter-in-place restrictions, incorporating sustainability practices into the protocols of our after COVID-19 reality, is an important investment in human resiliency as well as the preservation of our collective home, earth.

Additional resources:

Three Most Common Sustainability Rating Systems

Multifamily Design Trends for Maintaining Healthy Lifestyles

Webinar: How the Pandemic May Change Future Home Design

From the federal to the states to the counties, the country is preparing plans to re-open non-essential business operations and public life as safely as possible. As DAHLIN prepares our offices for our employees, a few of our immediate plans include installing hands-free sanitizer stations and removing all nonessential doors for improved air flow – a change we anticipate will be permanent – in each of our offices. Additionally, we are modifying our space planning to account for six-foot distances between desks and providing our employees the option of choosing where to sit. We will also continue to support working remotely as a complement to our in-office business operations.

Many smaller businesses, including some of our clients, with soon to expire leases do not plan to renew, instead adopting a fully remote operational plan. This is a trend we believe will continue as the workplace adapts to the way people have been changed by this experience.

The broad adoption of remote work – even as the ratio of remote to in-office work is certain to change with time – is also going to have lasting influence on all aspects of the planning and design of the built environment. Following are additional resources that address these impacts in more detail:

How Sustainable Design Supports Human Health and Wellbeing

Multifamily Design Trends for Maintaining Healthy Lifestyles

Single-family Design: Connectivity and Adaptability for Wellbeing

Webinar: How the Pandemic May Change Future Home Design

From the perspective that quality of space is more powerful than quantity of space, a few top conversation points included:

Simple, Immediate Solutions – Integrating convertible and moveable furnishings that enable the same space to flex to serve multiple uses, such as a coffee table that can turn into a desk, a murphy bed, or moveable partitions that can temporarily sub-divide a room, offers builders and homeowners alike an immediate solution for built homes, no re-design or renovation required.

Creative Land Planning – Rather than duplicating the same conventional block shaped lots over and over, jogging the property lines allows a larger lot to sub-divide into smaller lots of different shapes. This provides a builder increased density to support attainability and a designer more flexibility in creating more usable space for the homeowner despite a smaller footprint to support their needs associated with working from, learning from, and recreating from home.

Designing Better, Not Necessarily Larger – A high quality space can provide the same livability of larger homes in less square footage. When spending more time at home, this is key to support work and family demands as well as our mental health. Designing for good airflow and lots of light significantly enhances space quality, which is easier to do now with three-dimensional design tools. Virtually walking through a home during design enables you to feel a space before it is built, informing space quality elements such as window placement that maximizes light without compromising homeowner privacy, a common challenge in denser communities.

For additional insights, read Single-family Design: Connectivity and Adaptability for Wellbeing https://www.dahlingroup.com/perspective/Insights/Single-family_Design:_Connectivity_and_Adaptability_for_Wellbeing

Designing floor plans with flexibility in mind not only allows a home to grow with a buyer through life's stages, it also provides an added level of adaptability for a family sheltering in place. For instance, bedrooms on the first floor that can flex to a classroom for students, a home office, or a home gym. Additionally, kitchen management centers and ‘cozy corners' and ‘away spaces' – as coined by Sarah Susanka – can do double duty as small second office or study spaces. Just as importantly, these can also function as retreat spaces for meditation or prayer or to simply get away, supporting the self-care that is necessary to our mental health. In larger homes, design spaces that can be a playroom, hobby, game room or home theater, all the things you would go out to do without a pandemic. Also, instrumental to our overall health and wellbeing is access to the outdoors. Access to private outdoor space, such as backyards, covered decks and California Rooms that seamlessly expand the home creates much needed outdoor places of refuge, which is particularly needed when access to community open space is limited by social distancing protocols.

PRIORITIZING SAFETY AND SECURITY

Drop zones, also known as mud rooms or owner's entries, which are often off the garage, create a space to drop the briefcase, the backpack, the keys, and so on. It also becomes a space to remove items that may have been contaminated from being outside before tracking that throughout the rest of your house and exposing your family. Including generously sized pantries, even in smaller homes, gives people places to store dry goods and other non-perishables, which becomes even more important when it's necessary to limit the number of trips to the grocery store.

Coded delivery drop boxes or spaces, which have been much more common in multifamily designs, offers more than just protection from porch pirates. As our already growing reliance upon delivery is accelerated with an added emphasis on limiting physical interaction, these boxes also limit exposure for both delivery personnel and the recipient. Add hand sanitizers at doorbells or hand wipes to clean packages before bringing them inside for an extra protective measure. Keyless entries for doors and gates further limit the need to touch communal surfaces not to mention the added convenience they provide.

HEALTHY HOMES TECHNOLOGY

When spending extended periods of time indoors, indoor air quality increases in importance. The integration of natural ventilation design solutions as well as air purification systems decreases the spread of illness while also supporting everyday health. Consider also the installation of kitchen and bathroom fixtures that are touchless or made of materials resistant to viruses and bacteria. Bathrooms when shared amongst multiple family members are a common hotspot for spreading illness, regardless of pandemics. Therefore, self-flushing toilets, automatic faucets, and using fixtures, especially for doorknobs, that are resistant to virus and bacteria can go a long way in keeping healthy family members healthy when someone in the home is ill.

Whatever challenges come our way, maintaining our connections to friends and extended family is vital to our individual and societal wellbeing. Designing homes to support robust internet capabilities supports the technologies that help us stay socially close even when we're physically distant. For example, why not design a large screen in the dining room to facilitate virtual dinner parties. You could have something delivered from the same place and talk about the food together or play a game. Afterall, many of us have friends and family we're physically distant from even when we're not facing a pandemic. The fresh design perspectives coming out of this crisis can help us be more socially connected all the time.

To date, unit size has trended downward as the focus has shifted to fostering social interactions through thoughtfully designed community amenities. For example, small or no decks, particularly in for rent product, in favor of shared amenities provided opportunities to design more attainable housing and support resident interaction. But as we are experiencing, there are times when physical interaction must be restricted for a greater good. Looking forward, it will be important to re-consider how we define optimal indoor/outdoor space ratios to ensure that as many people as possible have access to private outdoor space. As we do so, it is equally important to avoid the trap of becoming overly introverted and isolated. For example, ensuring that unit decks overlook a common open space, providing both a connection to the building community and private outdoor space. Designs should also capitalize on opportunities to visually engage with the broader neighborhood context and street activity to further reduce a feeling of isolation.

HEALTHY BUILDINGS TECHNOLOGY

Community spaces will continue to be important as these spaces address our innate need to connect. The design opportunity is in how to design these spaces for maximum relevancy when facing threats to community health. Creating smaller, break away spaces within, ensuring ample sunlight, air circulation and purification systems, viral and bacterial resistant furnishings and fixtures materials as well as integration of touchless, automated door systems or sanitation stations provide an array of multi-faceted solutions.

COVID-19 has accelerated trends towards increasing reliance on delivery services with a new emphasis on reducing the need for physical contact to facilitate drop-off and pick-up. Coded drop-box systems – previously seen as a nice perk – may become a must have amenity for potential residents.

WORK FROM HOME SOLUTIONS

Recently, we have seen an increase in the inclusion of co-working spaces within multifamily product. While COVID-19 has forced entire industries to transition to full-time, work from home operations overnight, the unique challenges of this time have made these co-working spaces temporarily irrelevant. This provides future design opportunities. In unit design, incorporating alcoves that can flex to a work-from-home space – or a learn-from-home space, as needed in the face of school closures – provides a space conscious solution. Additionally, re-thinking the design of co-working spaces in ways like the above discussion of community spaces provides solutions to maximize the utility of co-working spaces. For example, incorporating touchless entry points, air purification systems, viral and bacterial resistant furnishings and fixtures materials, and perhaps, moveable walls to allow for the creation of private, smaller spaces as needed.

RE-THINKING CO-LIVING

Co-living, another multifamily trend that was gaining traction, faces unique challenges. However, re-thinking the design of these units holds potential solutions. Some projects may have opportunities to provide private entries to the bedrooms as opposed to a common point of entry through the communal space. Alternatively, integrating touchless entry into the common areas provides a different solution, including touchless entry into key areas that can be hotspots for spreading illness, such as bathrooms. Touchless light and faucet fixtures as well as appliances further minimize the opportunity for contaminating shared surfaces. Air purification systems zoned by room are another consideration. Even outside of co-living communities, roommate situations are very common in the for rent multifamily market. Therefore, many of these same smart home technologies, which enables touchless operation of otherwise commonly touched surfaces, are highly relevant solutions in this market, too.

As we all do our part to flatten the curve, let us apply our collective human ingenuity to adapt existing buildings and design new buildings to better support our health and wellbeing at all times.