The New Plex
© Philippe Fournier 2023. All rights reserved. Reproduction prohibited unless advanced written permission is granted by the author. Final self-directed research project completed in fulfilment of the requirements for the Master of Architecture degree at McGill University. Summary: A multiplex is a low-rise multifamily residential building with two or more separately accessed dwelling units, built at a similar scale to a traditional house. To address severe housing shortages, many jurisdictions across North America and around the globe are reforming long-standing zoning laws to permit multiplex construction across vast areas of land which formerly only permitted building single-family houses. This opens up a new frontier of design possibilities for builders: how should these buildings be designed? Though well established across the province of Quebec and once historically common in many other places, multiplexes are rare in the rest of postwar North America, with the majority of private households now dwelling in single-family detached houses. The scale of the housing crisis demands a radical expansion of denser building stock, but the carbon intensity of large-scale new construction poses environmental problems. As an example of ‘missing middle’ housing, multiplexes have many advantages which make them opportune for addressing both the housing and climate crises simultaneously. While increasing density and housing options, plexes have the advantage of being small enough to construct in light wood frame, embodying low carbon and employing local materials and trades. Their human scale and adaptability can allow them to blend unobtrusively within the built character of many established suburban neighborhoods. Their low capital requirements would permit a competitive market to emerge among small builders, while their rapid constructability lends itself well to prefabrication and other efficient construction techniques. This project revisits historical North American multiplex designs, makes the argument for streamlining multiplex construction in contemporary infill suburban contexts, investigates their regulatory and practical constraints, and explores ways of designing the typology in order to improve its environmental performance, cost effectiveness, and above all the quality of life for residents.
© Philippe Fournier 2023. All rights reserved.
Reproduction prohibited unless advanced written permission is granted by the author.
Final self-directed research project completed in fulfilment of the requirements for the Master of Architecture degree at McGill University.
Summary:
A multiplex is a low-rise multifamily residential building with two or more separately accessed dwelling units, built at a similar scale to a traditional house. To address severe housing shortages, many jurisdictions across North America and around the globe are reforming long-standing zoning laws to permit multiplex construction across vast areas of land which formerly only permitted building single-family houses. This opens up a new frontier of design possibilities for builders: how should these buildings be designed? Though well established across the province of Quebec and once historically common in many other places, multiplexes are rare in the rest of postwar North America, with the majority of private households now dwelling in single-family detached houses. The scale of the housing crisis demands a radical expansion of denser building stock, but the carbon intensity of large-scale new construction poses environmental problems.
As an example of ‘missing middle’ housing, multiplexes have many advantages which make them opportune for addressing both the housing and climate crises simultaneously. While increasing density and housing options, plexes have the advantage of being small enough to construct in light wood frame, embodying low carbon and employing local materials and trades. Their human scale and adaptability can allow them to blend unobtrusively within the built character of many established suburban neighborhoods. Their low capital requirements would permit a competitive market to emerge among small builders, while their rapid constructability lends itself well to prefabrication and other efficient construction techniques. This project revisits historical North American multiplex designs, makes the argument for streamlining multiplex construction in contemporary infill suburban contexts, investigates their regulatory and practical constraints, and explores ways of designing the typology in order to improve its environmental performance, cost effectiveness, and above all the quality of life for residents.
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The New Plex
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Average annual rent
30% of median income, the CMHC’s
maximum threshold for affordable housing.
Figure 2. Average annual rents of major cities vs “affordable” rents per the CMHC
combined account for approximately a quarter
of Canada’s population and continue to attract a
large share of Canada’s 500,000 new immigrants
annually, as well as propel economic growth.
As the name implies, single-family zoning
constitutes an effective density cap of one ‘family’
or unit of housing per parcel of land, even if the
land and buildings thereon are large enough to
accomodate more households. Furthermore, even
in neighborhoods where higher densities are
technically allowed, other laws strictly regulating
the architecture of buildings can make it difficult
to design multifamily housing. These laws vary
from one city and neighborhood to another, but can
include: height limits, setbacks from property lines,
minimum parking requirements, lot coverage rules,
maximum floor-area ratios, sightlines, roof angles,
tree coverage rules, unit composition mandates,
amenity requirements, or even aesthetic rules on
materiality and window and door placement. While
any of these regulations may have good rationale
or intentions, in the aggregrate they amount to a
tangled web of red tape that makes building housing
more difficult, risky and costly than it needs to be --
often prohibitively so. While this project focuses on
the Canadian context as a case study, this problem
is endemic to many other jurisdictions around the
world, particularly in former British colonies and
including most cities in the United States.
In addition to zoning most of their residential land
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