This project explores the notion of living alone together within one united form.

The site is in constant tension between the public and private – situated adjacent to the Quinnipiac River, the land parcel’s openness to the public in contrast to the needs of affordable housing for early childhood educators urges for a renewed understanding of the negotiations and compromises of ‘living together’ within an individual, private dwelling one can call home.

To mediate the site as a sanctuary for educators and an open ‘neighbour’ to neighbouring residences and beyond, the building is organized as an overlapping horizontal and diagonal bar intersecting with interveaving central spines along with a series of gathering spaces that transition from the collective to the individual.

Organised under a united roof, the building acts as a citywide institution. The open ground floor plan, above which the residences hover, provides a blank canvas for the local community to gather within an enclosed, open landscape between the building’s embrace and the Quinnipiac River.