Tabb lauds graduate students’ designs for affordable housing in Georgia development

Students in a fall 2010 graduate design studio led by Phillip Tabb, professor of architecture at Texas A&M, created what he called outstanding designs for affordable and sustainable housing for a hamlet in the Serenbe community, an environmentally friendly development in Georgia.

“I have never seen such a dedicated group of students in my 35 years of teaching,” said Tabb.

Jiavin Li, whose work was selected as the studio’s winning solution, is traveling to Serenbe, approximately 30 miles southwest of Atlanta, to present her designs and those of her classmates.

Students designed for the actual housing site at Serenbe, which is divided into a series of hamlets, each representing a character or theme. Tabb, of serves as Serenbe’s master planner, chose a saddle-shaped area in the Grange hamlet, which has an equestrian and agriculture theme.

After creating prototypes, students were asked to design variations of the unit at the following square foot increments: 1,000 feet, 1,250 feet, 1,500 feet and 1,750 feet.

Finally, Tabb asked students to design for 12 units on a 1.5-acre site showing the variations of their plan types.

For each phase, students were required to prepare physical models and associated drawings, including plans, sections and elevations.

For more about Tabb’s role at Serenbe, visit [http://www.tndtownpaper.com/] (http://www.tndtownpaper.com/Volume10/life_in_balance.htm) .

- Posted: Feb. 11, 2011 -

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