© Chris Miele
- Architects: EC3
- Location: Detroit, MI, United States
- Lead Architects: EC3 – Edwin Chan, Design Architect / Studio Detroit – Architect of Record
- Design Architect: EC3, Los Angeles
- Architect Of Record: Studio Detroit
- Area: 7530.0 ft2
- Project Year: 2017
- Photographs: Chris Miele, Jason Keen
- Construction Administration: Reyna Construction
- Project Representative: ABOVE THE FOLD
- Civil Engineer: Nowak and Fraus
- Underground Work: Brown Derby Boys
- Plumbing: Expert Master Plumbers
- Electric: Willie Marshall and Sons
© Chris Miele
Text description provided by the architects. True North is a development comprised of nine rental units and shared community gardens, located two-and-a-half miles from Downtown Detroit.
© Jason Keen
It has received international attention for pioneering creative affordable design attuned to both its context and community, as well as for catalyzing the redevelopment of a long-neglected area.
© Jason Keen
For aesthetic and economic reasons, the client challenged EC3 to utilize Quonset Huts, a prefabricated lightweight structure consisting of corrugated galvanized steel and having a semicircular cross section.
© Chris Miele
Section 02
© Chris Miele
Edwin Chan, founder of the Los Angeles-based studio EC3 and former design partner at Gehry Partners, commented: “We tried to capture the beauty of Detroit’s toughness with the raw aesthetic in its design, while creating an inviting place for the neighborhood.”
© Jason Keen
Open to the neighborhood and without fencing, the strategic placement of the huts is driven by a need for openness and security, views and privacy, socializing and solitude, leaving the community accessible from the street via three pathways.
© Chris Miele
Zone Diagram
© Jason Keen
Once inside the community, the pathways connect visitors to the eight huts (nine units total), communal gardens, thirty trees, and eight parking spots alongside the back alley.
© Chris Miele
Each structure is assembled on top of a four-inch concrete slab with in-floor radiant heat, which is also the units finished floor. The end walls feature custom steel framing around polycarbonate panels that provide a higher level of security, natural light and high thermal value.
© Chris Miele
For the interiors EC3 worked with the client and collaborators to develop a variety of layouts for the units – sizes ranging from 475 to 1,600 square feet – to inspire different creative lifestyles. Most of the units also feature an interior polycarbonate “island” containing a kitchen, a bathroom, and a mechanical/storage closet. Above the island, a mezzanine platform provides occupants with a flex for any use, possibly a bedroom, workspace or storage.
© Chris Miele
True North recently won The Architect’s Newspaper’s 2017 Best of Design Award in the Multi-Unit Residential Category and won an honorable mention from Architect Magazine in the 2017 Progressive Architecture P/A Awards.