Type/ Multi-family Housing
Client/ City of Norfolk
Status/ Pattern Book
Award/ American Planning Association Virginia Chapter’s Old Dominion Innovative Approaches Award

In collaboration with Work Program Architects and Dills Architects, we developed a Missing Middle Pattern Book for the City of Norfolk to explore possible solutions to local housing issues. It won the American Planning Association Virginia Chapter’s Old Dominion Innovative Approaches Award in 2021.

Missing Middle Housing (MMH) is "a range of house-scale buildings with multiple units—compatible in scale and form with detached single-family homes—located in a walkable neighborhood." The term was coined by Daniel Parolex in 2010. Since then, MMH has gradually become a national-wide movement. Even if you are unfamiliar with the term, there is great chance that you once lived or are living in certain type of MMH - duplex, triplex, six-pack, townhouse, etc., or anything between a single-family house and a large-scale apartment complex. It provides more diverse housing choices meeting various income and generational needs and help build a strong and close community. It also allows and incentivizes small developers or contractors to play important roles in the MMH developments.

In the Missing Middle Pattern Book, GARC primarily focused on a prototype design with modular components, which can maximize the number of available unit types to be applied to various lots and provide a context-driven solution.

For more, please check the Pattern Book on City's website.