McAuley Square

2001 Burlington, VT
19 special program dwelling units. $2 M
Principal: Bob Duncan and Michael Wisniewski

The Sisters of Mercy donated an empty site adjacent to their convent for affordable elder, teenage mother and single parents returning to school housing. We designed the site plan and the Lund and Scholar buildings. The task was complicated by neighborhood opposition and coordinating with the architect of the Elder building. Funding sources further required that each population be housed in a discrete building rather than a single integrated construction. The design and permitting process was protracted and explored many design options and configurations.

A green space setback from the street reflects the pattern of the adjacent convent. The separate Lund and Scholar buildings utilize porch and mechanical room extensions to integrate the two structures into a single, asymmetrical composition in scale with the convent and Elder building and form a protected courtyard for small children. The buildings are simple in form but a few special areas, such as the curved gable vent on the Lund building and square bays, porch and stair on the Scholar building add shadow and fine detail to tie them into the scale of the smaller houses in the neighborhood.