Sustainability without Compromise.
House by Northwestern was Northwestern University's first-ever Solar Decathlon team. Formed in April 2016, our mission was to design a beautiful, functional, and sustainable solar-powered house for an Evanston empty nester couple in their 50s and 60s looking to age in place. My role was to lead the user research and interior design.
20% of Evanston
Home to Northwestern University and part of Chicago’s North Shore, 20% of the population is projected to be 65 and older by 2020.
90% of Baby Boomers
Approximately 90 percent of those over age 65 report wanting to stay in their homes as long as possible.
1% of Housing Stock
Only 1 percent of the current housing stock contains the key features required to support aging-in-place.
So we reached out to users to learn more.
For about a year, I led user research activities to uncover our users’ housing needs. We performed contextual inquiry, created user personas, coded data, and more. Our insights led us to build a set of guidelines for the design of the home based on their 3 core values: accessibility, functionality, and beauty.
We learned that sustainability was their last priority.
Our vision changed to promote sustainable living without compromise. It gave us an opportunity to change the narrative of sustainable living from “barebones” (e.g. turning thermostat down in cold winters) to “highly desirable, and high-performance.”
We achieved a design that beautiful, functional, and sustainable.
We built an home that felt light, natural, and intimate. The 2-bed, 2-bath floor plan provided room for hobbies and to hosting. We made sure to design for aging-in-place, adhering to ADA standards and beyond. Last but not least, finishes were sourced sustainably and locally.
We won first place in Market Potential.
Not only did we win, we were the only team to sell their house to a real buyer who was part of our target demographic. The city of Denver has built replicas of our house for their residents to live in as well.
