New Grant supports the development of an open-source affordable housing design library led by Professor Somers
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Housing Futures Lab, directed by Schaeffer Somers (Assistant Professor of Architecture and Public Health), is partnering with the City of Charlottesville to develop a library of house designs that can be used to promote affordable housing options in Charlottesville.
The library, which will be open-source and developed through community-engaged processes, is supported by a recently awarded grant by the LS3P Foundation, a nonprofit initiative committed to enhancing communities through advancing impactful research on the built environment in the southeastern region of the US. Somers's proposal was one of three projects nationally that received funding support from the LS3P Foundation for this cycle — all of which focused on innovations in affordable housing.
Charlottesville’s historically underserved neighborhoods face persistent barriers to affordable housing, homeownership, and climate resilience. Building on the City’s Development Code, this project, titled Open-Source Affordable Housing Design Library for Charlottesville: Expanding Equity, Wellness, and Economic Mobility, seeks to address a critical gap in economic mobility by piloting a new open-source housing design library that will be developed over two innovation cycles (2026–2027).
In the first cycle, the School of Architecture’s Housing Futures Lab will build shared understanding of regulatory requirements outlined by the City’s newly adopted Development Code, which became effective in February 2024, and provides resources and information pertaining to zoning districts, regulations, standards for property owners, and guidance on the zoning administration process. The new regulation opens the door for more diverse housing types — including houses at the scale of Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) — and greater density in residential areas formerly zoned for single-family housing.
The research team will build on initial design proposals, studies and prototypes, developed as part of an advanced design research studio led by Somers, in collaboration with UVA Environmental Institute Practitioner Fellow (2024-2025) Bobby Vance, in fall 2024. In the studio, undergraduate and graduate students explored the creation of an ‘ADU Kit-of-Parts’, or a systemized set of prefabricated assemblies that could be both permit-ready and pre-approved by the city, with customizable components. To design these parts to work together, students took many building and material variables into consideration including cost, lifecycle, environmental factors, and aesthetics.
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Expanding on the most promising lessons learned and ideas proposed from the studio, the Housing Futures Lab and affiliated courses (across architecture, landscape architecture, planning, public health and law) will continue to develop and refine a flexible housing system based on this kit-of-parts approach that can be tailored to different neighborhoods in Charlottesville. In addition to the home, the project will incorporate landscape strategies, such as rain gardens, planting designs, and de-paving, offering a comprehensive approach to housing that includes interior and exterior spaces that are integrated together.
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As part of the process, the research team will partner with the School of Architecture’s Center for Cultural Landscapes, directed by Associate Professor Andrea Roberts, to host storytelling workshops with community residents and stakeholders to guide design priorities. UVA School of Law’s Community Organization and Social Enterprise Clinic, directed by Professor Sarah Shalf, will support the project team to develop a policy and financial framework to reduce barriers to homeownership through in-depth case study research.
The second cycle of the project will use public feedback to refine prototypes for dwelling units with supportive landscape strategies, identify financial modeling tools, and complete a comprehensive Health Impact Assessment (HIA) and monitoring plan of the policy framework with City decision-makers and community members. Working closely with the City of Charlottesville’s Department of Neighborhood Development Services, the team plans to publish the pilot design library of ADU-scale prototypes, and its integrated policy framework, by the end of 2027 — contributing to the city’s larger initiative to improve access to affordable housing in Charlottesville.
Open-Source Affordable Housing Design Library for Charlottesville: Expanding Equity, Wellness, and Economic Mobility
Project Led and Grant PI:
Schaeffer Somers, Assistant Professor of Architecture and Public Health, and Director of the Housing Futures Lab
Project Team and Partners:
Amanda Addison, M.Arch 2027, student research assistant
Kellie Brown, Director, City of Charlottesville, Department of Neighborhood Development Services
Carrie Rainey, City Planner, City of Charlottesville, Department of Neighborhood Development Services
UVA Center for Cultural Landscapes, Director Associate Professor Andrea Roberts
Lead organization for community engagement, archival research, and story gathering workshops
UVA Law Community Organization & Social Enterprise Clinic, Director Professor Sarah Shalf
Supporting policy and legal framework development
About LS3P Foundation
The LS3P Foundation, a nonprofit initiative committed to enhancing our southeastern communities through the built environment, was founded in 2022 by LS3P.
The Foundation supports leading design thinkers in advancing research, strategies, and technologies which promote transformative change, improve human and planetary well-being, increase economic mobility, and advance issues of health and social equity across the Southeast.
In support of its mission, the Foundation will award grants to universities, companies, and organizations in the region to advance impactful research.
Foundation Board Chair Chris Boney is a passionate advocate of design innovation in service to the greater good. “As architects, we believe we have a duty to improve our communities – to leave them better than we found them,” he explains. “We are excited to assist other innovative thinkers in advancing research that is transformative for all.”
The Foundation is led by a Board of design and construction industry professionals, including LS3P Chief Relationships Officer Chris Boney, AIA; LS3P Innovation Leader Esperanza Harper; LS3P Living Practice Leader Neil Dawson, AIA; Clemson University School of Architecture Professor and Director Emeritus Kate Schwennsen, FAIA; and Executive Chairman of Monteith Construction John Monteith.
