Today, housing in our society is at the core of social, economic, and environmental crisis. We need better housing in our communities: housing that isn’t just cheap or energy efficient. We need housing that makes a positive difference for people, community, and the environment: Net Positive Housing.

Learn More About Our “Net Positive” Mission

How do we work?

Our student teams spend a year researching a problem, collecting insight from professionals, developing and testing possible solutions, developing a project proposal, and executing our scope of work in the form of prefabricated building components. We utilize advanced technologies to optimize, plan, and manage the parts we will make, and use the shops at APDesign to prefabricate and build our designs. In our studio, the student teams create detailed construction drawings that are then used by a general contractor to complete construction.

• Research

  The studio is committed to finding the problems that a community faces. We sift through data and articles to uncover information to improve what we should address in our designs.

• Schematic Design

  The studio systematically thinks through creative ideas based on the research we obtained to form designs that meet the needs of each community. We incorporate cost estimating and energy-saving components to benefit the overall scope of the project as we move forward.

• Design Development

  As the studio gains feedback, we learn what design works for each given community. From here, we begin to develop drawings, and details are digitally designed and extensively thought out to make the finished building sustainable, cost-effective, and energy-efficient.

• Construction

  After we get approved by the contractor, the materials are assembled into panels in our workshop. Then shipped and assembled on-site by our studio to complete the building envelope.