flexiblefullpage -
Currently Reading

The Art of Weaving Custom Homes Into the Urban Fabric

Advertisement
billboard -
Case Studies

The Art of Weaving Custom Homes Into the Urban Fabric

These homes demonstrate the challenges and opportunities of custom urban infill


December 14, 2022
custom home urban infill
This article first appeared in the CB Winter 2022 issue of Custom Builder.

A custom home is tailored to fit the clients’ program as well as to maximize a site’s best attributes and mitigate its limitations—all while respecting surrounding context. When the context is an urban neighbor­hood with other buildings often just a few feet away, architects and builders face certain challenges, but they also gain advantages.

Architect Andrew Parks frequently designs infill projects for Memphis-based architecture collective Archimania. Each project starts with strategizing how a client’s program works best on the site, and every building is based on those parameters. “While we approach each custom home from scratch,” he says, “going through an investigative process for each site and each client to find out what the constraints will be, [we’re also] learning from previous projects.”

For urban infill work, those constraints may include tearing down existing structures without disturbing adjacent homes, ensuring there is space for materials staging, strategically scheduling subcontractors, and designing a floor plan that provides some privacy—especially for outdoor spaces—without impeding natural light.

According to builder and architect Page Repp, president of Repp + McLain Design and Construction, in Tucson, Ariz., “scheduling for urban infill sites is particularly challenging because you have to be exact in terms of one thing finishing before scheduling the next. And now with supply chain shortages, it’s even trickier.”

But building in urban areas offers advantages, too. According to Darren Lloyd, associate principal at MossArchitects, in Pitts­burgh, “infrastructure is already in place, so site development costs stay low and it’s close to most subs and suppliers, plus clients don’t need to drive as much because they can walk everywhere.”


casa schneicer custom home

Cool Desert Design in Tucson


est memphis custom home exterior

Turning Into Infill in East Memphis


pittsburgh rowhouse custom home urban infill

A Pittsburgh Rowhouse With a View

Related Stories

Custom Builder

A Historical Fix on a Modern Foursquare

The Foursquare is an American architectural staple, but modern building has removed some of its historic details. Restoration expert Brent Hull uses a hypothetical redesign to illustrate the point 

Case Studies

Building a ‘Happy Place’ on Florida’s Waterfront

Designing and building a custom waterfront home requires experience, expertise, and a good team—which is exactly what this client got

Case Studies

A Pittsburgh Rowhouse With a View

Working mostly within the city limits but in a variety of neighborhoods on different building types, architect Darren Lloyd says every project is instructive for projects that follow, regardless of type.

Case Studies

Tuning Into Infill in East Memphis

Memphis-based Archimania is intent on using good design to improve the city.

Case Studies

Cool Desert Design in Tucson

Ibarra Rosano Design Architects referenced traditional Mexican houses for inspiration to resolve a typical infill issue: admitting natural light while maintaining privacy

Project Management

Site-Specific Design: What It Means to Design for Place

Designing custom homes to preserve and enhance the natural qualities of a site

Case Studies

Pushing Performance

Energy Auditor and sustainability Expert Drew Smith provides insight into the purpose, process, and price of home performance testing and consulting

Case Studies

Custom Prefabrication: Weather Proof

GO Logic's Alan Gibson studied prefabrication in Sweden and came to find he preferred the panelization approach over modular prefab for its flexibility.

Affordable Housing

Custom Prefabrication: Urban Sensation

 Architect Brett Zamore, principal of Houston-based Brett Zamore Design, customized a modular/prefabricated plan to create a three-story modern manufactured home.

Case Studies

Custom Prefabrication: High-End From Factory to the Bay

Prefabricating a custom home may seem counterintuitive, but building components indoors to standard specs allows for individual designs that accommodate unique sites and clients

Advertisement
boombox1 -
Advertisement
boombox2 -
Advertisement
native1 -

More in Category



Case Studies

A Pittsburgh Rowhouse With a View

Working mostly within the city limits but in a variety of neighborhoods on different building types, architect Darren Lloyd says every project is instructive for projects that follow, regardless of type.


Advertisement
native2 -
Advertisement
halfpage1 -