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 Housing Crisis
Urban scholar Sonia Hirt has done comparative
studies of land use policies among developed
nations and notes that Euclidian zoning is
practically non-existant in Europe, where most
land is zoned for mixed use by default. This has
significant consequences for urban walkability, car
use and transit ridership, as research in Sweden by
Erik Ellder suggests that the significant factor in
people’s willingness to get out of their cars is close
proximity to amenities used in daily life -- cafes,
grocers, restaurants, gyms, laundromats, and other
things -- rather than just residential density. This
also has consequences for the city’s property tax
base: research by data anaytics firm Urban3 has
found that dense and mixed-use properties generate
the overwhelming share of a city’s property tax
revenue, whereas single-use low density zones
tend to be a net drain on city finances, receiving a
tacit subsidy from more productive property. Lastly,
allowing mixing of uses could improve the financial
feasibility of developing ‘missing middle’ and midrise
density buildings, since commercial spaces can
lease for significantly higher rents.
Recognizing the problems of single-family zoning,
many jursidictions across the globe have begun
formally repealing it to allow multiplex construction
Figure 8. Diagram of Toronto’s Euclidian Land Use Patterns
Recognizing the problems of single-family zoning,
many jursidictions across the globe have begun
formally repealing it to allow multiplex construction
‘as of right’ across single family zoned land. The
maps opposite show the status of some of the
prominent reforms in Canada that have passed in
recent years or are in the process of being advanced.
The following pages show reforms across global
jurisdictions.
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