Carolyn Green, Peter Wallace, Mary Spurr and myself, were all interested in changing our living conditions. Carolyn and Peter were looking to downsize and Mary and I were seeking a foothold in home ownership. We recognized that we could accomplish more if we pooled our resources. We were keen to renovate a house from older Halifax housing stock. This meant an energy- efficient retrofit, which we favoured over new construction, and it would keep us closer to the urban core, releasing our dependence on the automobile. A small house would minimize construction costs and keep our ecological footprint small. Inspiration for the project came from the ex- ample of intentional communities and their success, if not popular appeal, in Europe, Canada and the United States. Co-housing is a values-based approach to housing. People come together not solely out of need for shelter, but to engage collaboratively, to play an active role in the design and development of housing, and to live intentionally as part of a community. Co-housing typically has 12-60 houses, tightly clustered, with a common laundry, workshop and guest suites. The anchor of the community is a common house (kitchen and dining hall) where people might share a few meals a week. Co-housing projects can take years to complete and because of their often large size they rarely locate in urban centres. However much we admired the co-housing model, we were much less ambitious. Our community was the four of us — a miniature test case. We each came to the project with different resources. Peter and Carolyn had equity in a house they were going to sell. While Mary and I lacked the cash for a new house pur- chase, we did have building and construction management skills to offer. Both Carolyn and myself are design professionals so there would never be a shortage of design advice. Together we uncovered a means by which we could all contribute equitably to a housing project.
house | collaboration
above: front, back, night below: interior lower right: deck
scott donovan
Late in 2000 two Halifax couples came together to test an idea about shared resources and collaborative working methods in the construc- tion and habitation of a house. Their common goals and values in- formed choices of loca- tion, design, financing and construction man- agement.
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on |site 13
housing | houses | house
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on |site 13
housing | houses | house
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