2210 Willow
First Floor Plan copyright Elliot Johnson, AIA
Square Footage
Unit A - 2181 s.f.
Unit B - 1198 s.f.
Unit C - 1604 s.f.
Unit B - 1198 s.f.
Unit C - 1604 s.f.
Austin's HOME Ordinance
This is my first project under the new ordinance. There are multiple cool opportunities in designing a three unit project under HOME.
FAR
Utilizing the Preservation Bonus, we were able to get an additional 943 s.f. of FAR by saving 90% of the existing footprint of the home. This will directly improve the clients return on investment and allows for more density on the lot. While maintaining private yards and entries for all three units.
Under the previous McMansion Ordinance the maximum square footage would have been 2,725, under HOME this increases to 4,983 s.f..
In late 2023 the City of Austin eliminated all parking requirements, yet the client wanted to provide a secure garage for Unit C.
While being able to increase the overall square footage, we were still limited to the impervious cover and building coverage of the previous ordinance, this necessitated doing three story projects. And therefore we had to comply with the previous ordinances height limits.
The aesthetic of the front unit needed to be sympathetic with the original house, while creating the additional square footage, the clients chose to update the windows to non-divided light.
With the rear unit we could increase the ceiling heights, but with a three story project we were still limited, so a flat roof, modern style home made sense. The client decided that rather than match the front or the back unit, the middle unit would stand alone and be smaller with only two stories.
One aspect of HOME that were not able to take advantage of was the reduced front setback, due to preserving the Front Units footprint.
This is my first project under the new ordinance. There are multiple cool opportunities in designing a three unit project under HOME.
FAR
- one unit - 0.40 FAR
- two units - 0.55 FAR
- three units - 0.65 FAR
- Preservation Bonus - FAR exempted for perserved structure
Utilizing the Preservation Bonus, we were able to get an additional 943 s.f. of FAR by saving 90% of the existing footprint of the home. This will directly improve the clients return on investment and allows for more density on the lot. While maintaining private yards and entries for all three units.
Under the previous McMansion Ordinance the maximum square footage would have been 2,725, under HOME this increases to 4,983 s.f..
In late 2023 the City of Austin eliminated all parking requirements, yet the client wanted to provide a secure garage for Unit C.
While being able to increase the overall square footage, we were still limited to the impervious cover and building coverage of the previous ordinance, this necessitated doing three story projects. And therefore we had to comply with the previous ordinances height limits.
The aesthetic of the front unit needed to be sympathetic with the original house, while creating the additional square footage, the clients chose to update the windows to non-divided light.
With the rear unit we could increase the ceiling heights, but with a three story project we were still limited, so a flat roof, modern style home made sense. The client decided that rather than match the front or the back unit, the middle unit would stand alone and be smaller with only two stories.
One aspect of HOME that were not able to take advantage of was the reduced front setback, due to preserving the Front Units footprint.
Second Floor Plan copyright Elliot Johnson, AIA
Third Floor Plan copyright Elliot Johnson, AIA