Daily insights for city builders, delivered every morning at 6 AM ET. I’m Brandon Donnelly — a Toronto-based real estate developer and founder of Globizen. I’ve been writing here since 2013.

Azaleas — L-shaped infill housing

This is an interesting infill housing project in Villa Allende, Argentina. Designed by Studio LZ, the community contains seven homes, built across a 600 square meter site. Each L-shaped home is 63 square meters and hugs a private courtyard space (many of which have an outdoor BBQ). On the main floor of each home are the kitchen and living areas. And on the second floor are two bedrooms, as well as a second bathroom.

It’s a simple but clever design. Looking at a plan of the project, you can see that, despite its compactness, the L-shaped houses have been arranged in such a way that there are no direct facing conditions. The courtyards and window exposures alternate. It’s almost as if they are Tetris pieces that have been pulled apart. The result is a dense community that still manages to offer some of the benefits of low-rise housing.

Photos by Gonzalo Viramonte

3 responses to “Azaleas — L-shaped infill housing”

  1. gahack Avatar

    Norbert Schoenauer, then a professor at McGill, published a book in 1962 on the Court-Garden House. There is a long tradition of such L-shaped housing forms in Scandinavia and throughout the world.

  2. Gary Hack Avatar
    Gary Hack

    Norbert Schoenauer, then of McGill University, published a fine book on the Court-Garden house form in 1962. There is a long tradition of this low-rise high-density housing form in Scandinavia and other parts of the world. Gary Hack

  3. doug Avatar
    doug

    There is a project of L shaped houses in North York . It is many years old now and larger than this one. I looked it up on Google maps.It is apparently called Windfield estates and is at Leslie and Stubbs drive just south of the 401 . Those houses were often arranged like a star..four Ls The architect was Eugene Lyle

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