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
Low Embodied Carbon
Figure 13 Embodied Carbon of Common Building Materials
Increasing awareness of the ‘embodied carbon’
of buildings -- emissions associated with the
manufacture and transport of building materials
during the construction process -- poses a dilemma
for environmentally conscious advocates of
increased building supply. Builders seeking to
reduce their embodied carbon are increasingly
looking towards have biogenic and plant-based
building materials such as wood and cellulose.
Furtunately, Canada already has a well-established
tradition of wood building, as indeed the majority
of its building stock is light wood frame. Light
wood frame in turn is one of the best structural
systems for sequestering carbon into buildings,
storing far more carbon over the building lifecycle
than is released to produce it. Since multiplexes
fall within the category of buildings conducive to
simple wood frame construction, they can help
increase overall building supply with far lower
carbon output -- or net carbon savings -- than larger
buildings which tend to be built with concrete and
steel. While recent changes to the building code
permit large buildings in Canada to be made of
wood products like mass timber, the Canadian
building industry has so far been slow to adopt
the technology. The case for carbon sequestration
in building materials becomes stronger when the
longevity of buildings are factored in. The longer
the carbon is stored in the material, the longer it is
not in the atmosphere. Here again we can look to
Le Plateau Mont Royal as a case study due to its
abundance of plex housing. The building map right
shows the age of the neighborhood building stock,
with many plexes still in use dating over a century
old. The Plateau is considered one of the most
desirable neighborhoods in the city and residents
take much care to maintain the many plexes in a
good state of repair.
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