The Ardyn Townhouse

The Ardyn Townhouse

The Ardyn Townhouse project re‐imagines a small, irregularly shaped corner lot in one of Atlanta’s oldest historic neighborhoods. The 10‐unit cluster is situated along one of the city’s major residential thoroughfares, capitalizing on the opportunity to maximize urban density where a single‐family dwelling once stood. The project brief was short, but clear; the developer client has a well‐established/branded aesthetic that was to be maintained without compromise. The caveat to this requirement was that the project needed to be both sensitive and responsive to the architectural language of the surrounding neighborhood, its homes wrought largely in the century-old Arts & Crafts style.

The design also seeks to investigate alternatives to the typical monolithic “block” that is ubiquitous in contemporary townhome construction. In an effort to better articulate the overall mass and breakdown its scale, the end units of the block are sliced and pulled away, creating new opportunities for circulation and access within the remaining interstitial space. These spaces create a distinct threshold between the public and private realms. The mass of the blocks is further carved away at the top floors to create private rooftop spaces for each urban unit, a reference to the “Fifth Façade” proselytized by Le Corbusier. Wood-clad, cantilevered living spaces are extruded at the corners of the blocks, a direct counterpoint to the stereotomic carving of the roof. These “pulled out” volumes also serve to maximize views from the interior while bathing the primary interior spaces in natural light.