FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. —University of Arkansas planners, engineers and students have designed a new kind of neighborhood for the Benton County chapter of Habitat for Humanity. “Green” streets, storm water gardens and wetlands are among the new ideas planned for the Habitat Trails project, which has won the 2006 Education Honors Award from the American Institute of Architects and a planning award in the 2006 EDRA/Places Awards for Place Design, Planning and Research. The 2006 AIA Education Award follows a 2005 Education Award won by UACDC for their work on big box retail stores.

UA architecture students designed streamlined updates on dogtrot, bungalow, prairie and ranch house forms that are familiar fixtures in American suburbs.

“In each case UACDC challenged students and clients to break the mold through a design approach that considered the natural and urban or residential environment as well as economic, social and political concerns,” said Catherine Roussel, director of education for the AIA. “The results are convincing models that may lead to new, more desirable development patterns.”

Groundbreaking on the first home is planned at noon on Thursday, April 20.

“We hope that this project will not only serve as a model for cost-effective, sustainable development, but also rekindle the art of making great neighborhoods,” said Stephen Luoni, director of the University of Arkansas Community Design Center. “We are pleased to receive these awards, and even more pleased that building starts this summer.”

Located in Rogers, the Habitat Trails development marks a first for the Benton County chapter of Habitat for Humanity.

“This takes us to a whole new level,” said Debby Wieneke, executive director of the Benton County chapter of Habitat for Humanity. “Normally we have one simple home on one lot. Now, boom: we’re going to put 17 families on five acres with a wetlands area in one corner, a neighborhood park in the middle, and a vast variety of plants, trees and landscaping that we’ve never had an opportunity to do before.”

The city of Rogers has annexed and zoned the subdivision and the Rogers city council has approved preliminary plans. Final approval of the Habitat Trails project will be decided at the April 18 Rogers city planning commission meeting.

The project’s green rethink of suburbia stems from a multidisciplinary collaboration between the UACDC, Marty Matlock of the Ecological Engineering Group in the UA Division of Agriculture’s department of biological and agricultural engineering, and Mark Boyer, associate professor of landscape architecture. Twelve engineering and architecture students also shaped the design. Industry consultants included Morrison Shipley Engineers, JKJ Architects, Crossland Construction and Adams Excavation.

Adam Jokerst, a biological engineering student, tests the infiltration rate to expect on-site.

Matlock’s team designed the ecological and hydrological infrastructure for the subdivision and consulted with Morrison Shipley Engineers to make sure the system works.

“We explored the concepts for a low-impact development with the CDC, and they brought them to life,” Matlock said. “We are meeting the regulatory requirements of the city while maximizing ecological services for the community.”

The new thinking begins with “skinny streets” — 20-feet wide, rather than the standard 30 feet — that slow traffic through the neighborhood and decrease run off. Sidewalks and parking areas are paved with absorbent materials such as recycled crushed brick that allow for direct infiltration of storm water. Perhaps most radical of all, gutters and pipes that channel storm water to eyesore retention ponds are replaced by street side gardens and swales planted with soft rushes, St. John’s wort, sweet bay magnolias and other native plants.

“It’s kind of like multitasking remediation,” said Boyer. “These native plants work on the water and pollutants, provide aesthetic appeal and benefit birds and animals in the area.”

Even better, from the developer’s point of view, the subdivision’s green infrastructure reduces street costs by more than a third.

A prodigious amount of preliminary work informed the final design. Matlock’s undergraduate and graduate engineering students conceptualized the wet meadow, worked with Morrison Shipley Engineers to develop mathematical modeling to predict water flow under critical storm events and worked with Aaron Gabriel of CDC to produce detailed design drawings. The architecture students researched housing styles, wrote a 77-page book on American porch types, visited and cleared the site and toured several Habitat homes before they began sketching ideas.

All of the designs feature French doors that open to expansive porches, promoting neighborly interaction.

"It was a really tough semester, but we learned a lot,” said David Anderson, a fourth-year architecture student who estimated that he spent 40 hours a week on the studio. The typical Habitat home posed unique challenges for the students. The organization limits square footage (1,230 square feet for a four-bedroom home, for example) and favors standard construction elements and techniques that facilitate corporate donations and volunteer labor.

“We were crunching for every inch of space to count,” Anderson said.

Many of the students plan to pitch in and build this summer.

“Being involved with Habitat and providing people in need with housing made the experience very fulfilling,” said Cari Paulus, a fourth-year architecture student. “I am beyond excited to have a hand in building something that I have invested so much of myself into.”

“The best experience for me was participating in a real-world project,” said Jennifer Raible, a senior biological engineering student. “In collaborating with Morrison Shipley, Habitat and UACDC, I got to see everything it takes to turn a plan on paper into a reality. Also, I loved that everyone involved, professionals and students alike, volunteered their time and abilities to a project that will aid the underprivileged as well as the environment.”

UACDC and the Benton County chapter of Habitat for Humanity plan to collaborate again in the future.

“Their hearts are in it, as well as their talent,” Debby Wieneke said.

Founded in 1995, the University of Arkansas Community Design Center has provided design and planning services to more than 30 communities across Arkansas. The center’s planning has helped Arkansas communities and organizations secure nearly $62 million in grant funding to enact suggested improvements. In addition to revitalizing historic downtowns, the center addresses new challenges in affordable housing, urban sprawl, environmental planning, and management of regional growth or decline. The design center also offers hands-on civic design experience to students who work under the direction of design professionals. UACDC has won 12 design and education awards since director Steve Luoni came on board in 2003.

Seed funding for the Habitat Trails project was provided by a grant from the Arkansas Natural Resources Conservation Commission and the US Environmental Protection Agency.

To access sample project images, visit the UACDC Web site at http://uacdc.uark.edu/. For more information on the AIA education award, visit http://www.aia.org/. For more information on the EDRA/Places Award, which is cosponsored by the journal Places, Forum for Environmental Design and the Environmental Design Research Association, visit www.telepath.com/edra/ or http://www.places-journal.org/.