History

The Alley Flat Initiative began in 2005 thanks to a generous grant from the Henry Luce Foundation to the UT Center for Sustainable Development. Principle Investigator and UT Professor Steven Moore launched the project and soon recruited University of Washington Professor Sergio Palleroni to lead the Sustainable Design and Development Workshop (SDDW) that would ultimately conduct the research and develop the prototypes. In the first year, the SDDW developed two key partnerships with the Blackland Community Development Corporation and the Guadalupe Neighborhood Development Corporation (GNDC), two organizations at the forefront of the affordability movement in Austin.

Through interviews and extensive on-the-ground research, the SDDW students were quickly able to identify a network of deserted and underutilized alleys throughout East Austin. Due to lack of budget resources, the City of Austin had long abdicated responsibility to maintain these alleys and as a result, they were often overgrown and abandoned. At the same time, detailed survey calculations also revealed that many of the residential lots facing these alleys were oversized and, as a result, the ratio of building-to-site was minimal. Working in partnership with the two development corporations, the students of the SDDW developed preliminary concepts for an alley flat initiative. Investigation into neighborhood zoning restrictions revealed that these secondary dwelling units were in fact permissible and were advocated by the Guadalupe Neighborhood Plan. The SDDW students conducted extensive research into other alley flat initiatives from around the United States, including Santa Monica, Boulder, Seattle and Portland, and found that these were the most well-publicized examples of a growing national movement (see New York Times article "The Apartment Atop the Garage Is Back In Vogue," Dec 2 2006, by Janny Scott).

Following the extensive research of year one, in year two the students in the SDDW began working on the prototype designs. Leveraging the research and innovation of other UT design studios, including the Civic Environmentalism Workshop, the East Austin Trapezoid study and the UT Solar Decathlon house, the students were able to develop designs that utilized the most cutting-edge environmental systems. By spring 2006, the SDDW had identified two clients with whom to work with to build the first alley flat prototypes. The first alley flat was completed in June 2008 for a private homeowner in East Austin. The alley flat serves a secondary dwelling unit for the homeowner's sister. The prototype features a number of green features including PV solar arrays, rainwater collection barrels, and clerestory windows which allow for cross-ventilation and plenty of natural daylight. The second alley flat is scheduled to begin construction in early 2009. This alley flat will be built for GNDC, as a secondary dwelling unit in the backyard of one of its properties in East Austin.

With relatively large lots in East Austin and the desire of many households to build a secondary unit for living or working, the Alley Flat Initiative is an important part of helping to meet the need for affordable housing in Austin. The Alley Flat Initiative allows people to leverage the equity in their homes to meet the needs of a growing family or business. The process of planning, building, and designing the alley flat prototypes has resulted in the development of a well-designed delivery system for all interested households to be able to build their own alley flats.