Stronger communities start with smart design—and smart policy
Connecting public policy with architecture to change communities and provide housing for people from all walks of life.
Affordable housing is often misunderstood. Many people consider it an issue that belongs to “other” neighborhoods—places far from the well-maintained homes and bustling downtowns we associate with stability and opportunity. In reality, every community depends on housing options that serve people across a range of incomes. Teachers, young families, service workers, health care aides, childcare providers, and retirees all deserve the chance to live in the communities they support.
But affordable housing is about more than simply providing shelter. When people can live near their jobs, schools, and essential services, entire neighborhoods thrive. Local businesses attract more customers, schools benefit from greater stability, and communities grow stronger and more economically diverse.
As we wrap up Housing Month for AIA Government Affairs, we’re spotlighting inspiring work by architects across the country who are revitalizing communities through affordable housing—and leveraging public policy to make it happen. These projects combine federal, state, and local funding sources to create real, lasting impact.
A vacant furniture store becomes affordable artist housing, breathing new life into a struggling Main Street.
“When we restore our main streets with catalytic affordable housing, we take on big question marks—sites too big or uncertain for individual homeowners—and help renew entire neighborhoods.”
—Ken Doyno, Senior Principal, President, CEO, AIA, LEED AP
The Ohringer, Braddock’s iconic eight-story furniture store from 1941, has re-emerged as an arts incubator and affordable artist housing. The project follows several attempts to re-inhabit the long-vacant building with arts-based interventions. Now, the building has been completely transformed to create spaces for professional artists to live, work, and exchange. The reactivation of this icon connects two areas of main street redevelopment, builds upon the maker culture of Braddock, and continuously illuminates the heart of the community through the arts. Read more
Williams Terrace provides seniors with affordable, climate-resilient homes that strengthen downtown’s social fabric and honor its history.
The design team worked closely with the housing authority to devise a dynamic building that meets the challenges of the site—located in a high-velocity flood zone—and respects the built fabric of the historic city. The building draws on Charleston’s Single House, a local typology characterized by what is regionally known as a “piazza”—a sheltered outdoor porch centered between the garden and the home that functions as an entryway and private living and gathering space. Inspired by the local single-house typology, the building features external circulation that doubles as egress and social spaces. Read more
Frost Terrace shows what’s possible when designers, neighbors, and city leaders work together to add affordable homes in high-cost neighborhoods.
“The City of Cambridge has a huge commitment to affordable housing … and simultaneously to resiliency and climate and sustainability. ... The historic preservation of the three houses and the modern addition in the middle show how you can combine the old in Cambridge with the future of Cambridge.”
—Cassie Arnaud, City of Cambridge
Frost Terrace leveraged community priorities around historic and ecological preservation to expand access to two- and three-bedroom affordable housing units in a high-rent neighborhood of Cambridge, MA. Over the course of a year, the design and development team collaborated closely with community members, building upon their existing track record with the City of Cambridge, local affordable housing advocates, and neighboring institutions, such as Lesley University. They successfully integrated a complex set of priorities and requirements into an elegant design for a tight site that enhances housing security and socioeconomic diversity. The project adaptively reuses three historic homes, preserves six landmark trees, and contributes to the City of Cambridge’s climate change mitigation and resilience goals. Read more
What’s next in affordable housing policy
These projects are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to what we know about how community investment makes a difference. These projects show how thoughtful, well-designed affordable housing can come to pass when policy supports great outcomes at every level. As Ken Doyno of Rothschild Doyno Collaborative put it, “It’s a good example of all three levels of government working really well together—the federal government providing tax credits, the states articulating and advancing program goals, and local governments ensuring zoning and code compliance.”
But for every success story, there are countless local governments and developers constrained by fragmented funding streams and outdated regulations.
That’s where the ROAD to Housing Act comes in. ROAD is a bipartisan bill making its way through Congress right now that builds on proven federal programs while giving states and localities the flexibility they need to implement solutions that work. By streamlining access to capital and expanding eligibility for catalytic projects—such as the adaptive reuse, mixed-use developments, and resilient design examples listed here—it helps create the conditions for more housing that strengthens communities across income levels.
In short, the ROAD to Housing Act is an investment in healthier, more connected, and more prosperous communities for everyone. You can use this link to contact your member of Congress and ask them to pass this bill.
Read more about projects that represent Climate Justice in Architecture.