Supportive housing project offers sustainable solution

Project: Durham Modular Supportive Housing

Award: Future Projects – Residential, Gold, 2022

Location: Beaverton, Ontario, Canada

Architect: Montgomery Sisam Architects Inc. 

Client: Region of Durham & NRB Modular Solutions

This supported housing scheme offers a comfortable and soothing place to live for those experiencing homelessness in a rural community in Ontario. The new facilities at Durham Modular Supportive Housing project include a three-storey building of 47 studio apartments, lounges and administrative areas plus a two-storey community hub for dining, meeting and social support rooms. Both are connected via a glazed link which serves as the main entrance lobby and which opens onto a landscaped courtyard, providing a calming space for residents to enjoy. Intended to help vulnerable people to achieve independence, the project provides residents with on-site support.

Design highlights

The building, beautifully clad in board and batten cedar siding, tongue and groove wood siding and galvanized corrugated aluminium, is intended to reduce the stigma associated with supported housing. Its low-rise, pitched-roof design is inspired by the surrounding agrarian landscape, while the deep grey and light wood material palette harmonizes with the rural surroundings. Large windows and glazed walls frame views of the rich landscape. Modular construction will allow the building to be completed within a speedy 12 months, without compromising on quality control. The pre-fabricated modules do not use any fossil fuels, thanks to an all-electric heating and cooling system powered by 300 photovoltaic panels incorporated into the design of the roof. 

Photo credit: Montgomery Sisam Architects Inc.