For our final studio at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, we entered the Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston’s 2026 Affordable Housing Development Competition, where our team placed third.
The competition challenged student teams to develop a comprehensive, affordable housing proposal on a real site, integrating architectural design, financing strategies, environmental performance, and community programming.
Our proposal, Rooted Commons, is a 41-unit affordable housing development on the 5.3-acre Hartford Street Presbyterian Church site in Natick, Massachusetts. The project rebuilds the church and food pantry alongside the housing, while exploring YIGBY (Yes In God’s Backyard) legislation as a strategy for introducing affordable housing on underutilized faith-owned land.
Designed with Passive House principles, the proposal combines deep affordability, community-centered programming, and long-term environmental performance through a layered funding approach including federal and state LIHTC, soft debt, and project-based vouchers.
Team: Mona Bilto, Kate Roller, Liam Mobley, Elijah Robson, Robyn Barrios, Deepak Krishna, and Angela Ruan.
