Project Info:

Winner of the 2010 AIA Design Excellence Merit Award

The Avalon Duplex Paradigm Project for the Boulder County Housing Authority is a pilot venture for innovative, sustainable, affordable housing which will inform the design and construction of a future 153-unit, low-income and senior housing development on a nearby 14 acre site. The Paradigm project consists of one duplex unit and one single family unit on an urban infill lot situated between a residential neighborhood and an industrial park in Lafayette, Colorado. 

The design team utilized a modular construction company to test the hypothesis that modular buildings can provide equal or better quality construction for a lower price than site-built stick construction. The building envelope is super-insulated and airtight for greater energy efficiency. The duplex utilizes high-efficiency furnaces and solar thermal hot water heating, while the single-family house has a geothermal heating and cooling system with a de-superheater for domestic hot water production. The buildings are ventilated with a heat-recovery ventilator system, powered by the photovoltaic panels on the rooftop of each unit. The buildings' massing and high clerestory windows allow natural cooling through stack-ventilation. Their orientation onsite allows for passive solar heating in winter, with sunshades to block intense summer sun.

The exterior form and materials of the housing units were carefully designed to meet affordability and sustainability goals. Exterior materials were selected for their durability and compatibility with modular construction, and consist of fiber cement siding, cedar posts and trim, trex decking at the balconies, and faux-stone veneer. All housing units have zero-step entries to accommodate senior living, and are built on full basements providing extra space.

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