Residential
Cincinnati, Ohio
2026
House for All Ages nests a small community of affordable homes inside a building that reimagines the traditional American triple-decker building typology and its landscape for a contemporary Cincinnati that is both growing and aging. While not explicitly intended for a single multi-generational family scenario, the design is inspired by the idea of three generations under one roof: two small ground floor units for elderly grandparents, and two three bedroom units on each floor above with a mix of room types suitable for parents with young kids, adult children with roommates, or professionals working from home. Every unit opens onto a patio or balcony, ensuring access to fresh air, natural light, and views onto the neighborhood or backyard. The main entrance is set at the heart of the building, accessed through a gated exterior walk which extends the experience of the threshold, giving the feeling of entering a secret garden and providing myriad spaces and paths for running into other residents, hanging out together, or strategically avoiding them.
The construction of the house is planned around a highly economic and effective construction technique: 2x6 framing with continuous external insulation, including on the roof, to create an air-tight but vapor-permeable building envelope minimizing thermal breaks. The units make use of an efficient, compact layout to integrate built-in compartments for storage, building mechanical equipment, and utilities that share plumbing service walls and stacks. These efficiencies also allow space to be made for a shared, ADA compliant Limited-Use/Limited-Application (LULA) elevator, for a fully barrier free building following universal design principals.