Goals

Come Home: Missing Middle Infill Housing presents innovative ways of reimagining Chicago’s single family home, two- and three-flat, rowhouse and six-flat typologies to better meet modern living. The exhibition highlights the work of 42 firms from across North America, including Canopy, that were invited to present their design solutions at the Chicago Architecture Center, following an open call for proposals.

Results

“SIX PLUS” is designed with climate responsiveness in mind, incorporating sustainable and social impact elements while still maintaining the unique characteristics of the vernacular Chicago
six flat building. The project offsets the two conventional stacks of living units, creating a shared front porch with a ground floor amenity FLEX space and a resident rooftop garden. These community spaces encourage social interaction and supplement the unit experience. The ground floor space can be built as a “white box” shell for future customization by the owners, and could be used as a co-working, socializing, or maker-space as desired. The front and back facades are double-clad with an operable wood louver system to adapt to Chicago’s dramatic seasonal variation.

Expanding the primary vertical circulation to create a spacious social stair and “vertical greenhouse” atrium creates additional ventilation, social opportunities, and borrowed light. While the front and back porches might be most utilized in the summer months, the “vertical greenhouse” in the center of the building provides a sunlight filled retreat during the winter months that still offers the social and practical benefits of a typical Chicago porch. This climate-responsive Chicago SIX PLUS six-flat of the future prioritizes ecological stewardship and community-building, while maintaining a nod to the classic Chicago six flat.