For my studio III project, we were each assigned a home in the historic Five Points district of Denver. We were then tasked with making an addition or edit to the house that would benefit the community. In my research about the surrounding community of Five Points, I read and listened to many stories, all about how one’s family business went bankrupt or how they had to leave their family neighborhood, all because of gentrification and rising living costs. So, my project directly responds to these contextual influences by “exploding” and repurposing all the essential elements of my home’s garage. This repurposed garage provided a small neighborhood market where neighbors could sell crafts, fresh-grown produce, old household items, or whatever else. However, because the garage was only repurposed, the homeowner’s need for a backyard is still satisfied by providing a completely usable deck above the market with the same square footage as the old yard and garage.

This project explodes a garage into its essential elements and leverages a shared ordering system by stacking program that produces a community market while still supporting residential use.