Commonscape
Year: 2025 Design & Honor Awards | Category: Student Project
Commonscape reimagines urban living, merging Charleston’s historic charm with contemporary design. It fosters a balance between individualism and community, connecting previously disparate private and public realms of living. Prioritizing a synchronization with nature through open-air circulation, communal patios, gardens, and balconies, occupants are encouraged to engage and thrive together, celebrating diversity as a strength. A thoughtfully curated selection of amenities supports a self-sufficient lifestyle, offering fresh produce, co-working, studying, leisure, and fitness—all within a singular intervention. More than just a residence, Commonscape represents a redefined community, a vibrant vessel for living in its many forms.
Design Challenge
The proposal addresses environmental resilience and social infrastructure in a historic district prone to flooding. All residential units are elevated above the 10-foot flood line, balancing structural efficiency with ample natural light, as daylight filters into ground-level courtyards and throughways, blurring the lines between built and natural environments. The ground floor serves as more than just a foundation; it becomes an activated public realm that fosters a self-sustaining community, offering access to fresh, locally sourced goods, co-working spaces, and recreational areas to support long-term residents in a tourist-dominated city.
Five elevated residential clusters are connected by open-air staircases and dispersed elevator lobbies, creating a network of living spaces. This project incorporates mixed-use, multigenerational, and student housing within a unified framework, providing various unit types that cater to diverse urban needs. Compact studios are tailored for young entrepreneurs and minimalists, larger single-family-oriented units accommodate growth, two-story multi-generational units centered around ground floor wheelchair access and family living, and communal 8-bedroom residences promote shared living among students and cohabitating groups requiring short-term leases. The presence of a balcony for every unit is essential, as it is seen as an extension of life in the living room. Each space encourages shared experiences while allowing for personal retreat, enabling residents to balance togetherness and solitude in a home that extends beyond personal boundaries into the urban collective.
Project Information
Student(s)
Nour Khalifa
School
Georgia Institute of Technology
Project Location
Charleston, South Carolina
Completion Date
11/14/2024
Professor
Katherine Wright
