PAC Prize Winners Announced

The College of Architecture is proud to announce this year’s PAC Prize Winners. First prize goes to Quinlan McFadden and Jamie Schacher for their project “Neighbor-Type.” Finalists are Caroline Goertz and Trey Erwin for “Arbormartville” and Alex Regier, Trey Erwin, Wyatt Gosnell and Nick Olsen for “Perpetuate.” This award celebrates the excellence that emerges from a collaborative process. The winning team receives an award and $2,500. Eligible collaborative projects consist of two or more students with at least one student from the College of Architecture programs (undergraduate, graduate or professional programs).

Winner Project Description: Neighbor-Type
Neighbor-Type maximizes land use and approaches affordability through densification and the ownership model of a community land trust. Five homes of various sizes share a 100′ x 150′ double lot. Individual families may purchase the homes while the land remains with the trust as a shared resource. The proposal strikes a balance between the security of ownership and the shared values of the community, ultimately providing access to housing in an accelerating market.

A central shared path organizes the dense site to create a gradient of public to private spaces with an outdoor gathering area at the center. At the rear of the lot, the path bisects a shared carport with garbage/recycling stations fronting an existing alley. Public areas within the houses face the path while private rooms orient to the side yards or are located on the second floor. Two houses are single-floor accessible ranch-style dwellings but by maintaining equal footprints, the mix of one and two-story homes can be easily adjusted. The houses are simple and iconic with varying proportional window sizes placed according to interior functions and captured views. Roofs and walls of standing seam metal contribute to the monolithic appearance of the houses while bright-colored entry recesses (created by local artists) identify the initial homes. (Mentored by Jeffrey L. Day)

Jury Comments:
Practiced and polished, Jamie and Quinn presented their Neighbor-Type project with clear objectives and design intent. Thoughtful use of a community land trust to increase densification of Lincoln neighborhoods with affordable housing, the team sought to create ‘a community within a community’. Collaboration was an unquestionable priority as the pair worked not only with users from Neighborworks-Lincoln on a weekly basis, but also teamed with a Community and Regional Planning studio to provide depth regarding zoning and research of the area. Final output not only depicted a thorough design story but also appeared cohesive in both verbal presentation and in written/graphic form.

Finalist Project Description: Arbormartville
Designed as a technical education facility, this project repurposes an abandoned Walmart to facilitate the use of engineered lumber in Bentonville, Arkansas. This facility hosts a timber fabrication floor paired with independent studios, offices and exhibition space. The use of engineered lumber continues out the front door and into the two housing options. These are for plant workers and independent contractors leasing studio space. (Mentored by Jason Griffiths)

Finalist Project Description: Perpetuate
This senior living community empowers seniors to lead a healthy, connected and meaningful life through the fostering of relationships in both the external and internal community. It emphasizes multi-generational relationships between seniors and younger generations as well as internal relationships between residents, ultimately leading to relationship building and relationship retention.

The community is split into five small house concept cohorts (three floors of Independent Living, one floor each of Assisted Living and Memory Care. (Mentored by Nate Gieselman, Adam Wiese and Catrina Cook)