Eric Laine and Suzanne Steelman present LiveWork, a new take on the changing nature of living and working in a design for a mixed use development in Athens, GA.
Graduate architecture students Eric Laine and Suzanne Steelman have designed an award-winning residential-commercial project for Downtown Athens, GA that incorporates technological, philosophical, and aesthetic principles to enhance sustainability within the community.
Dubbed LiveWork, the project builds on the three pillars of sustainability (economy, environment, and society) by offering residents control of the commercial space below them. Laine and Steelman argue that the arrangement encourages enterpreneurialism, ensures around-the-clock occupancy of a space, and invests people in their surrounding communities. For those residents who would rather not manage a retail space, they have reserved the option to lease it to a homeowners' association.
The design also implements a slew of sustainability features, such as a "green screen" trellis for plants to block the sun in the summer and wither away to let sun in for the winter. Solar panels on the roof would provide a surplus of energy, which could be sold to a utility company to help pay off the cost of the project.
The design calls for three adjacent units, which would each house a two-, four-, and six-person household.
FULL STORY: LiveWork: The Future Of Living Where You Work And Working Where You Live
Depopulation Patterns Get Weird
A recent ranking of “declining” cities heavily features some of the most expensive cities in the country — including New York City and a half-dozen in the San Francisco Bay Area.
California Exodus: Population Drops Below 39 Million
Never mind the 40 million that demographers predicted the Golden State would reach by 2018. The state's population dipped below 39 million to 38.965 million last July, according to Census data released in March, the lowest since 2015.
Chicago to Turn High-Rise Offices into Housing
Four commercial buildings in the Chicago Loop have been approved for redevelopment into housing in a bid to revitalize the city’s downtown post-pandemic.
How California Transit Agencies are Addressing Rider Harassment
Safety and harassment are commonly cited reasons passengers, particularly women and girls, avoid public transit.
Significant Investments Needed to Protect LA County Residents From Climate Hazards
A new study estimates that LA County must invest billions of dollars before 2040 to protect residents from extreme heat, increasing precipitation, worsening wildfires, rising sea levels, and climate-induced public health threats.
Federal Rule Raises Cost for Oil and Gas Extraction on Public Lands
An update to federal regulations raises minimum bonding to limit orphaned wells and ensure cleanup costs are covered — but it still may not be enough to mitigate the damages caused by oil and gas drilling.
City of Costa Mesa
Licking County
Barrett Planning Group LLC
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Mpact Transit + Community
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
City of Universal City TX
ULI Northwest Arkansas
City of Laramie, Wyoming
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.