NWA housing design competition draws 25 architectural firms

BENTONVILLE — Architects from around the country showed off their ideas Thursday on creating more affordable housing options in Northwest Arkansas.

The multifamily designs were from the winning architecture firms of the Housing Northwest Arkansas Professional Design Competition and were on display at Record.

“The whole intention is to not only provide new forms of slightly higher density housing but actually more walkable communities,” said Peter MacKeith, dean of the Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design at the University of Arkansas.

Demand for housing in the region’s downtowns has increased as they’ve become more desirable areas to live, said Joanna Cannon, chief philanthropic officer at the Walton Family Foundation.

A foundation grant paid for the Housing Northwest Arkansas initiative, led by Fay Jones School.

Bentonville’s residential sales prices per square foot increased more than 200 percent since 2012, according to a 2017 study by the Center for Business and Economic Research in the Sam M. Walton College of Business at the university.

The report looked at the vitality of the region’s downtowns and identified trends limiting accessibility to downtown living, Cannon said, citing increasing housing prices and low vacancy rates for multifamily units as two examples.

“This moment represents both a challenge and an opportunity for the region,” she said.

Each of the 25 participating architectural firms designed a higher density housing project in one of five sites in Bentonville. The design had to be affordable for residents and have space for other types of uses.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development defines affordable housing as housing that costs occupants no more than 30 percent of their income for housing costs, including utilities.

The average annual wage for Northwest Arkansas workers is $38,291, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics. That puts an affordable housing cost for the region at $957.

The winning firms included Digsau of Philadelphia; Kevin Daly Architecture of Los Angeles; 5468796 Architecture of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada; and Merge Architects of Boston.

The jury also gave Works Progress Architecture of Portland, Ore., an overall commendation, PAU Studio of New York a commendation for their urban design approach particular to their site, and Bucholz McEvoy Architects of Dublin, Ireland, a commendation for architecture and originality.

“We were amazed at how flat everything was,” Merritt Bucholz, principal at Bucholz McEvoy Architects, said about Bentonville’s buildings. “Everything is low and very undense. The whole approach to the competition was really interesting because of that very basic shift from an undense way of living to a dense way of living.”

Bucholz’s design included many balconies and breezeways to enhance the ventilation of the multi-story apartment complex. Each apartment had an outdoor sitting area that could be closed off when weather wasn’t conducive to enjoying, he said.

The jury looked at the projects from how they fit into the city, how buildings were planned and how the material selected would be used, said Marlon Blackwell, jury member.

A reception was held for the winning firms to meet some developers, Realtors, contractors and financiers Thursday evening.

“There is a buildability factor here,” MacKeith said. “Ideas are wonderful, but ultimately what we want to do is move this forward in substance.”

The competition was the third and final component of the Housing Northwest Arkansas initiative. The sixmonth initiative also included an advanced design studio for students and a symposium held in February.