PROJECT Timber Point

PROJECT SITE NE Washington DC

PROJECT CATEGORY  AIA Potomac Valley Student Design Awards

Entrant: Elizabeth Romero Andrade

Team Members:
School: University of Maryland - College Park
Professor: Peter Noonan

Project Type:

Date of Completion: 5/8/2026
 

Studio Prompt: This competition asks students to design attainable housing that is inclusive, sustainable, and thoughtfully designed for the urban middle class. The goal is to show that well-designed housing can be accessible to a wide range of people while responding to the needs of contemporary cities. Proposals should explore missing-middle housing types, such as duplexes, four-plexes, courtyard housing, live/work units, small walk-ups, and neighborhood infill, while considering site conditions, neighborhood scale, and the public realm. Designs should also take advantage of advanced wood construction, including mass timber systems such as CLT and glulam, panelized light-frame assemblies, digital fabrication, and off-site prefabrication. Successful projects should demonstrate affordability, constructability, reduced embodied carbon, efficient construction, and long-term energy performance. At the same time, proposals should improve quality of life through universal design, healthy and biophilic materials, natural daylight, ventilation, and shared indoor and outdoor spaces. Overall, the competition encourages students to rethink wood not only as a structural material, but also as a tool for creating climate-conscious, replicable housing that strengthens communities.
 

Project Summary: The assignment for the 2026 Timber in the City: Urban Habitats Competition was to design a housing project that responds to current urban housing needs through wood construction. The competition focused on the idea of the “missing middle,” asking students to think beyond single-family houses and high-rise apartments and propose housing that is denser, more flexible, and still connected to the scale of the neighborhood. The challenge was to use timber as more than just a material choice. The project needed to show how wood construction could support more sustainable building methods, create warmer and healthier living spaces, and help reduce the environmental impact of new housing. Students were asked to consider mass timber, light wood framing, prefabrication, or other wood-based systems as part of the design approach. The assignment also asked students to think carefully about how housing fits into the city. This included the relationship between the building and the street, shared spaces for residents, access to daylight and air, outdoor areas, and how the project could contribute to the surrounding community. The goal was not only to design apartments, but to create a livable urban environment where people could feel connected to both their homes and their neighborhood. For this proposal, the competition brief was used as a way to explore how a compact mixed-use housing project could bring together affordability, sustainability, and community life. The project responds to the assignment by combining residential units, public ground-floor spaces, shared outdoor areas, and a mass timber structure within a small urban site.

Jury Comments (if applicable): 

The judges praised this project for its strong massing, thoughtful response to a challenging urban site, and well-integrated sustainability strategy. The stepped building form successfully navigates irregular site conditions while creating a sensitive transition between surrounding building scales and street edges. A thoughtful mix of housing types, flexible spaces, shared outdoor areas, and rooftop terraces creates a sense of community and enhances the livability of a compact development. The project was recognized for its compelling concept, beautiful presentation, and overall completeness.

MEDIA FOR DOWNLOAD

Project PDF

Project Narrative (AIAPV)
Design Panel Project PDF (AIAPV)