Residential

The housing crisis will demand innovative approaches to materials and techniques to make costs more attainable.

Across the globe, housing burden is on the rise, and innovation is crucial to help solve the attainable housing shortage. Standardized, modular, and prefabricated construction methods can reduce costs and increase production. Low-cost, repeatable technologies such as thin shell concrete and scalable, durable materials such as mass timber could boost housing affordability.

Multigenerational, university, and corporate housing are driving the need for more agile, flexible housing stock.

Cities with multigenerational, mixed-use communities have a competitive edge, and they must have the right mix of housing to meet diverse needs, from short-term student or corporate housing to longer-term market-rate housing to active adult communities. Flexible, reconfigurable units and agile housing management technologies can make housing stock more resilient.

Physical and mental well-being will become a critical outcome for housing design.

As lifestyles and workstyles blur, housing design should enhance residents’ mental and physical well-being. By incorporating wellness-focused principles such as access to nature, indoor air quality, and restorative spaces, homes can become platforms for well-being that can improve people’s health and increase their longevity.