Canadian architecture firm 5468796 Architecture is one of four winners of the Housing Northwest Arkansas Professional Design Competition. Led by the Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design at the University of Arkansas and made possible through grant funding, the competition aimed to develop options that will provide mixed-income, attainable housing solutions for a growing population in the midwestern state with the ultimate goal of designing and building better communities.
The three-stage initiative solicited qualifications from over 100 practices with expertise in multi-unit housing from North America and across Europe, and invited a shortlist of 25 firms to design an attainable housing solution for one of five sites in Bentonville, Arkansas. The competition brief called for inspirational and practical proposals that would heighten expectations of both homebuilders and homebuyers regarding the quality of design that can be achieved with an innovative approach to mixed-income, attainable housing in the region. The distinguished jury, comprised of Anne Fougeron (Fougeron Architecture, San Francisco), Jeanne Gang (Studio Gang, Chicago), Marlon Blackwell (Marlon Blackwell Architects, Fayetteville), Brenda Anderson (NWA Downtown Revitalization Fund, Bentonville) and The Honourable Shaun Donovan (Former U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and Harvard University Senior Strategist) selected concepts by 5468796 Architecture, along with Digsau of Philadelphia, Kevi...