ANDY VANMATER | ARCHITECT + EDUCATOR | Big Box Housing

<strong>Big Box Housing</strong> (1 of 7)<br />Too often Big Box retail stores underutilize their space and urban potential. Many are abandoned within 20 years furthering the problem of wasted space. However, the problem is not the store itself, but it’s current method of incorporation into society. To provide a working solution this project incorporates housing into the site of the Big Box store allowing for a symbiotic relationship of shoppers, workers, and urban activity.

<strong>Big Box Housing</strong> (3 of 7)<br />An alternative design proposal of this project shows a series of retractable meshes that allow the space between the Big Box stores and the commercial and housing developments to be an outdoor community space. I chose to utilize the space for a park, localizing the park’s spaces to pockets in-between and around the structures.

<strong>Big Box Housing</strong> (4 of 7)<br />This image highlights the function of each building across the top, and shows how the size of the structure is in accordance to the scale of the area along the bottom.

<strong>Big Box Housing</strong> (5 of 7)<br />This is a rendering of the project shown from across the adjacent highway. This site surrounding my project had removed most of the usable area to be used for drainage ditches and parking lots. The façade of my proposed project provides a visual and sound shield for residents and park attendants creating a more aesthetic pleasing approach and desirable ambiance than existed before my project.

<strong>Big Box Housing</strong> (6 of 7)<br />This image depicts the view from the building complex across the adjacent highway.

<strong>Big Box Housing</strong> (7 of 7)<br />The model shown here displays the global geometry of the design, in particular the narrow rectangular openings used in the roof over the housing complexes. These openings provided sunlight to the garages and outdoor spaces I included in the houses, in an effort to compete with real estate properties in the surrounding areas.

Big Box Housing (2 of 7)
In this plan the existing Big Box stores are positioned along the top. In the place previously occupied by only a parking lot, I have incorporated an office space, lecture spaces, a recreational complex, a five story parking deck and single-family housing. Click here to download a PDF of this plan.