Lower 9th Ward Houses, New Orleans Homes

Lower 9th Ward Houses New Orleans, Louisiana housing architects, Architecture United States, America building

Lower 9th Ward Homes, New Orleans

Louisiana Housing Development following Hurricane Katrina design by GRAFT

Jul 3, 2009

MIR Camelback House in New Orleans

GRAFT designs a second house for Make It Right in New Orleans

Make It Right in the Lower 9th Ward

By April 2009 a total of 6 houses have been finished as part of the Make It Right Program in the Lower 9th Ward, the owners were able to move back and enjoy the benefits of their new homes. Two of these houses were designed by GRAFT and chosen by the homeowners, as the process at Make It Right is individual choice of the design. 9 more houses are currently under construction, one of them also designed by GRAFT, 10 houses are in the permit process.

The houses designed by GRAFT are inspired by the Cradle-to-Cradle Philosophy and received LEED Platinum certification. They are prefabricated modular units, constructed off-site.

Lower 9th Ward Houses Lower 9th Ward Homes Lower 9th Ward Houses New Orleans Lower 9th Ward Homes New Orleans
images from architects

After the success of the first round of designs for the Lower Ninth Ward a new group of architects was invited to design dwellings. GRAFT donated another design, this time with a larger building for up to two families.

The Round 2 house deploys a similar formal strategy of blending as does GRAFT’s Round 1 shotgun house. A strong visual connection to the Round 1 house was maintained in order to bring consistency of character to the New Orleans’ Lower Ninth Ward, which will continue to be populated by these types of dwellings.

Here, we have additionally drawn inspiration from the camelback shotgun typology. Historically, camelbacks emerged as a way for residents to add a partial second story to a residence, whether simply to gain more space for a single-family home or to add a rental unit at the rear of a structure. In our design, we utilize the camelback strategy to stack a second efficiency unit above a first floor shotgun house.

A critical programmatic goal within the design is to establish a strong connection between the private interior zone of the house and the shared public space of the street. The primary challenge in achieving this goal lies in negotiating the 8′-0″ first floor height that is required to make the houses safer from future flooding of the street level. The broad and spacious deck located in the front yard mediates the relationship between public and private by raising the deck 5′-0″ above grade. This offers a welcoming gesture to the street while at the same time creating a semi-private space for the inhabitants of the house to enjoy.

Residents may enter the house from the side porch landing, leading them into a large open space, containing living, dining and kitchen functions. The lower unit has a flexible three bedroom layout that can be converted into a two bedroom and office layout if desired. The master suite at the rear of the house contains an en-suite bathroom that shares a common wet wall with the unit’s other bathroom and kitchen making a cost-efficient plumbing core.

An exterior stair carries the inhabitants of the efficiency unit up to a rooftop terrace entry deck. This secondary deck level may be utilized as a private deck for the upper dwelling. It provides a generous outdoor living space, views of the neighborhood, space for a small vegetable or herb garden, and easy access to the solar panel array for maintenance.

The upper unit itself is designed to be a simple one bedroom dwelling with a living room and dining area facing the backyard. Here the efficiency kitchen shares a wall with the bath to form a cost-efficient plumbing core. The kitchen forms an ‘L’ at the perimeter of the living and dining area in order to create an open and inviting space.

New Orleans Lower Ninth Ward Houses images / information from Graftlab

Lower 9th Ward Houses design : GRAFT

Location: New Orleans, LA, USA

New Orleans Buildings

Contemporary New Orleans Architecture, Louisiana, southern United States of America, chronological:

Second Harvest
Design: EskewDumezRipple
Second Harvest
image : Michael Mantesen
Second Harvest in New Orleans

Moiré Noir House
Design: Nathan Fell Architecture
Moiré Noir House New Orleans Louisiana
photo : Jeremy Jachymn
Moiré Noir House

Louisiana Housing

Contemporary Architecture in Louisiana

New Orleans Homes, Lower Ninth Ward
Design: Graftlab
Lower Ninth Ward house
picture from architect studio

New Orleans Houses, Lower Ninth Ward
Design: Graftlab with Brad Pitt
New Orleans House
photo : Stefan Beese

Website: USA

New Orleans Houses Make It Right : Architects involved with charity MIR

Louisiana Buildings

Lower 9th Ward Housing architects : GRAFT architects

Donations
Make It Right
PO Box 58009
New Orleans, LA 70158

888-647-6652

Buildings / photos for the Lower 9th Ward HomesNew Orleans Architecture design by GRAFT Architectspage welcome.