Winter Issue 2022 - 86

solution file
A prefabricated modular
system of functional
louvered screens lining
wide but shallow units
was developed by Urban
Splash on its MoHo
project in Manchester,
United Kingdom.
As suburban land has become
more expensive, Sego Homes, a
South Jordan, Utah-based homebuilder,
is testing the market for
12-foot-wide (3.7 m) townhouses
to economize on both land and
building costs. The thin micro-townhomes
will be located in Daybreak,
a new, 4,126-acre (1,700 ha) community
20 miles (32 km) south of
Salt Lake City. The community was
originally planned by Berkeley, California-based
Calthorpe Associates
for 20,000 units and was initially
developed by Kennecott Land
Company, but has been under the
stewardship of Sandy, Utah-based
Larry H. Miller Real Estate since
April 2021.
Sego's thin micro-townhouses,
called Urban Townhomes at Daybreak,
are under construction on a
two-acre (0.8 ha) site at the northwest
corner of Lake Run Road and
Black Twig Drive in the new 400acre
(162 ha) downtown carved
from a 12-acre (4.9 ha) superblock
that lies across from newly developed
240-by-600-foot (73 by 183
m) blocks.
The project architect, Eric Osth,
chairman of Pittsburgh-based
Urban Design Associates (UDA),
84
URBAN LAND
says, " We are certainly not the
first to take on this challenge of a
'micro-townhouse' and historically
it has served as a component of
our favorite cities for years. We are
just finally looping back to this as a
new direction. "
Density
The challenge to optimize density
starts with site size and block
configuration. Since townhouses
are mostly rectilinear, architects
sliced off a 5,000-square-foot (465
sq m) triangular sliver at its south
end to use as a green on which to
face 10 of the thin townhouses at
its entrance. That squared off the
site to 240 by 360 feet (73 by 110
m), into which they projected a
100-by-50-foot (30 by 15 m) green
peninsula around which they sited
15 more townhouses.
Although each narrow townhouse
has a one-car garage, none
faces an external street, three of
which border the site. Vehicular
access is from an internal Z-shaped
20-foot-wide (6 m) drive running
from the east side to the west side.
The north side is a 20-foot-wide
(6 m) tree-lined allée bordering
the next group of townhouses. The
WINTER 2022
resulting site plan yields 51 of the
12-foot-wide (3.7 m) townhouses
and is interspersed with six 20-footwide
(6 m) townhomes that take
advantage of irregular spaces " to
maximize the layout of the site, "
says Spencer Corbridge, Sego's vice
president of operations.
Density reaches 28 units per acre
(69 per ha), which is comparable
to that of three-story multifamily
garden apartment buildings.
Osth declares that thin
micro-townhouses are a " great
urban model for human-scale
streets, far more permeable for
pedestrians, and easy to implement
for local builders, " who can
sell them on a fee-simple basis.
While that density for thin
micro-townhouses appears high, it
is only half that the 240-by-360-foot
(73 by 110 m) block could contain
if planned for hypothetical maximal
base density. This would require
integrating five shared pedestrian/
bicycle/vehicular and green 24-footwide
(7.3 m) woonerfs (a Dutch
term meaning " living streets " )
between six rows of 12-by-40-foot
(3.7 by 12 m) townhouses.
Such shared multifunctional
green streets are usually developed
with pervious paving draining
toward the center. In this illustrated
diagrammatic alternative, a 24-footwide
(7.3 m) green, tree-lined allée
also courses through the block and
divides 108 micro-townhouses into
groups of nine, thus achieving a
density of 54 units per acre (133 per
ha) with a 1.4 parking ratio, including
48 on-street spaces.
" In our initial prototype testing,
we did test an ideal block for peak
densities to nearly 40 units per
acre [98 per ha]; as this is a new
product for Daybreak and the Salt
Lake Valley, we wanted to create a
high density without compromising
livability. As the product catches
on, we may build denser blocks, "
Osth explains.
Sego's Daybreak layout creates
individually platted " lots that are
typically 12 by 57.5 feet [3.7 by 17.5
m], although some of the lots are
longer and allow for a driveway
that allows the buyer to park a
second car, " says Corbridge. With
63 garage spaces and 18 more in
driveways, the parking ratio yields
1.4 parking spaces per unit.
" This site is a half block away
from a light-rail station and is
within walking distance of restauCR-URBAN
SPLASH GROUP LIMITED
Winter Issue 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Winter Issue 2022
