99K House Groundbreaking
Houston Mayor Bill White broke ground for the 99K House with AIA Houston, the Rice Design Alliance (RDA) and D. E. Harvey Builders on October 31. Organizers hope the house, designed by Seattle architects Hybrid / ORA (Robert Humble, Joel Egan, Ben Spencer, Owen Richards, Tom Mulica, and Kate Cudney), will help rejuvenate the area, a central goal of the Mayor’s Houston Hope program for struggling neighborhoods.
The 99K House Competition, announced in October 2007, called for the design of a single-family house with up to 1,400 SF, including three bedrooms and one-and-a-half to two bathrooms, to be built for $99,000 or less. The competition challenged designers and architects to design a sustainable house, with special consideration given to affordability, durablity, energy savings, and appropriateness for the hot, humid climate of Houston.
The groundbreaking took place in Houston’s Fifth Ward at 4015 Jewel Street. The City of Houston donated the lot through the Land Assemblage Redevelopment Authority (LARA) initiative. The 99K House is being built by D. E. Harvey Builders, Inc. and is slated for completion in 2009. It is hoped that the project will serve as a prototype for an affordable, sustainable and energy efficient house.
D. E. Harvey Builders, Inc. has donated its services as general contractor. President David Harvey said his firm was looking to celebrate its 50th anniversary with a community project. Harvey said his employees have worked together to build houses for Habitat for Humanity and, he added, this kind of community outreach has the added benefit of building a team spirit within the company. Harvey serves as Treasurer of the Rice Design Alliance and sits on the board of the Houston Architecture Foundation, the non-profit arm of AIA Houston. Many other subcontractors are donating their services, including engineering expertise from Haynes Whaley Associates.
Once constructed, the house will be sold to a low-income family through the Tejano Community Center.
Five jurors, representing expertise in design, sustainability, affordable housing, and the Fifth Ward, selected the designs for the exhibition, which included the winners and four finalists. The jury included: Bryan Bell, Jr., Founder and Executive Director, Design Corps, Raleigh, NC; Richard Farias, Executive Director, Tejano Community Center, Houston, TX; David Lake, FAIA, Principal , Lake | Flato Architects, San Antonio, TX; Michael Pyatok, FAIA, Principal, Pyatok Architects, Inc., Oakland, CA; and Rocio Romero, Owner and Principal, Rocio Romero, LLC, Perryville, MO.
For more information, please go to the competition website, www.the99khouse.com. The competition was supported, in part, by generous grants from the Houston Endowment Inc., the National Endowment for the Arts, the Texas Commission for the Arts, and the Houston Arts Alliance.
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Filed Under: Built Projects, Competitions, 99k, houston hope
