NEW YORK, NY—Peterson Rich Office (PRO) and Regional Plan Association (RPA) today released a report of scalable solutions and design strategies for improving New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) properties across the five boroughs. Commencing in June 2019, PRO co-founders Miriam Peterson and Nathan Rich led the research and design work focusing on how to make healthier homes for the 600,000 people who live in NYCHA apartments. With $45 billion in unmet capital needs and residents facing increasingly dire living conditions, fixing New York City’s public housing is a growing priority for both government and civic sectors.
The yearlong process was initiated through RPA’s inaugural Kaplan Chairs for Urban Design fellowship, which was established to create innovative design solutions to help NYCHA and its residents. NYCHA represents the largest and most affordable housing portfolio in the city, however virtually all of its buildings are in need of modernization and repair. This proposal represents one way which, in combination with other revenue sources such as air rights sales and more local, state and federal funding, NYCHA can not only repair but upgrade campuses for existing residents.
Focusing on challenges and opportunities within NYCHA’s existing footprint and capital improvement funds, PRO proposes replacing outdated and centralized building mechanicals, adding private outdoor spaces, diversifying the range of unit types, and better integrating existing buildings within neighborhoods. These changes would improve the health of individuals and families as well as the performance, flexibility and durability of the spaces they occupy. PRO’s key recommendations include:
- Create private balconies for residents that would further insulate the buildings and provide space for alternative mechanical systems
- Install contemporary electric “split systems” to provide energy-efficient heating and cooling with individual resident control
- Preserve buildings by adaptively reusing existing underutilized space
- Expand existing buildings into the unoccupied ground floor to develop supportive programming, additional units, and sunlit street-facing lobbies
- Extend properties to sidewalks and streets to integrate them with the rest of the city
Since 2014, PRO’s co-founders Miriam Peterson and Nathan Rich have focused on the unrealized potential of NYCHA’s assets and how to preserve and improve its vast portfolio. What ties each individual proposal together is a citywide, strategic approach that seeks replicable solutions in order to maximize impact. Their first proposal ‘9x18’ rethinks valuable land currently used to fulfill parking requirements as sites for affordable housing units, while ‘Roof by Roof’ proposes a strategy to combine the large-scale provision of new affordable housing with the repair, renovation and future proofing of existing assets.
“For far too long, NYCHA residents have suffered from poor and dangerous living conditions. They need better, healthier housing and Peterson Rich Office’s new designs are the kind of innovative solutions we need. I want to thank Miriam Peterson, Nathan Rich and their team for their commitment and work as RPA’s inaugural Kaplan Chairs for Urban Design and to the J.M. Kaplan Fund for making this fellowship a reality,” said Tom Wright, President and CEO, Regional Plan Association.
“Affordable housing in our hometown has been an enduring concern for The J.M. Kaplan Fund. PRO’s vision for a more livable, sustainable NYCHA is a much needed breath of fresh air, both literally and figuratively, for this essential housing infrastructure. We hope our partners in government give this inspired work serious and sustained attention,” said Amy Freitag, Executive Director, The J.M. Kaplan Fund.
“Rather than simply building new, we start by preserving NYCHA’s existing buildings and proposing scalable design solutions aimed at modernizing their facilities and campuses to better the living conditions of each resident,” said Miriam Peterson and Nathan Rich, Principals at Peterson Rich Office
About Peterson Rich Office
Peterson Rich Office is an interdisciplinary design studio specializing in cultural and residential work. Founded in 2012 by Miriam Peterson and Nathan Rich, Peterson Rich Office has been recognized for its projects at multiple scales: In 2018, Peterson Rich Office was awarded the ‘New Practice New York’ prize by the American Institute of Architects and was named to the 2018 ‘Design Vanguard’ by Architectural Record. Most recently, the firm was named a 2020 Emerging Voice by The Architecture League of New York. Peterson Rich Office is currently working on cultural, multi-family, private residential, and commercial projects in New York, Connecticut, Michigan, Washington, and California. Two major projects—Metropolitan Avenue Mixed-Use in Brooklyn and Nina Chanel Abney Studio in Hudson Valley—are set to break ground in fall 2020. For more information, please visit www.pro-arch.com.
