A grant received by the School of Architecture will be used to improve affordable housing in several areas of Baton Rouge while giving architecture students a chance to get valuable hands-on experience.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development awarded the School of Architecture a $399,939 grant on Nov. 15 to research and develop new forms of affordable housing.
The grant is intended solely to fund the research and design aspect of the project. The actual value of the project will amount to $767,322 after local businesses lend their services and materials for carrying out the school’s plans.
HUD awarded similar grants to four other universities across the nation based on applications sent by several schools.
Marsha Cuddeback, architectural professional-in-residence and a project director, said HUD told the school that the contest was “highly competitive.”
Frank Bosworth, an architecture professor who also is a project director, said the grant will help LSU gain reputation nationwide.
“The results of this should place LSU as one of the leaders in the nation on affordable housing research,” he said. “LSU becomes the expert.”
Bosworth said four houses will be built for the grant. They will serve as models of energy efficiency and environmental awareness. They will be put up for sale by the contractor who builds them upon their completion.
Three houses will be built in the Mid-City and Old South areas of Baton Rouge. One housing development will be renovated in the Eden Park area.
Professors in several departments are helping with this large project and several Baton Rouge businesses are providing their services.
Cuddeback said that by granting this money to universities, HUD hopes to gain new ideas and fresh perspectives on affordable housing options for low-income occupants.
Both Cuddeback and Bosworth said this project will give architecture students a great deal of hands-on experience.
“Students will have the opportunity to bridge academic work with professional work,” Cuddeback said. “There will be a large number of students employed.”
Bosworth said the grant gives students a great opportunity to see the research and design process at work.
Melissa Regan, a fifth-year architecture student, said the grant will not only bring attention to LSU, it will allow students to get hands-on experience. She said the studio experience is not the same as the real world.
“You’re your own client, and your professor, and that’s about it,” Regan said.
Clint Procell, a fifth-year architecture student, said he thinks the school will do a good job with the project.
“They’re trying to do what they do to help the community,” Procell said. “It helps students and community realize the connection between the two.”
The Office of Community Design and Development, part of the College of Art and Design, is in charge of the project. Bosworth and Cuddeback are the heads of the office, which, they said, came to LSU four years ago.
Cuddeback said the OCDD is the “primary outreach arm for the School of Art and Design” and also houses the best practices laboratory.
The OCDD will plan several aspects of the project. Cuddeback said the planning will most likely stretch into January, and the actual project work will last for three years.
Cuddeback said research will be conducted and then studies will be done to look at past examples of affordable housing. The design process, she said, does not begin until all of the preliminary work is finished.
Bosworth said the project will be getting some of its inspiration from the LSU AgCenter’s Louisiana House project.
Claudette Reichel, LaHouse project chair, said the main goal of the project is to research and improve sustainable housing development. The project is trying to create do-able, marketable houses that will work in Louisiana.
“We’re wanting to stimulate consumer demand and at the same time facilitate industry adaptation,” Reichel said.
The Louisiana House will begin construction in 2004 near the LSU golf course. Reichel said it will look like a house but will represent all the work the LaHouse project has done in the area of sustainable housing.
Reichel said the timing of the HUD grant is perfect.
“It’s a wonderful, wonderful opportunity,” she said. “We’ve been working with the College of Design from the beginning.”
Bosworth said the research the LaHouse project has done will be very helpful while they work on the HUD grant.
“The work that we’re going to do is going to build on that,” Bosworth said.