Responsive Home Project Debuts during Builders' Show, Defining What Millennials Want in a New Home

LAS VEGAS, Jan. 19, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- A new showcase home, unveiled to coincide with the opening of the International Builders' Show here this week, seeks to answer the question of the moment for the U.S. housing industry: What do Millennials want in a new-home purchase (and will providing it actually convince them to buy one)?

Located in the master-planned community of Inspirada in nearby Henderson, Nev., the Responsive Home project is an innovative collaboration among TRI Pointe Group's Pardee Homes of Las Vegas, architect Bassenian Lagoni (Newport Beach, Calif.) and Hanley Wood's Builder magazine (Washington, D.C.). One of two show homes on the site, the 2,514-square-foot "Contemporary Farmhouse" melds environmentally conscious functionality with the more traditional and familiar Farmhouse design under Pardee Homes' LivingSmart^™ program.

But it is the combination of architectural flexibility with sustainable features that the collaboration believes will appeal to a demographic that has, to date, been slow to take the plunge into home ownership. Recent research conducted for the Responsive Home project debunks many myths about Millennial attitudes toward home-buying, and also reveals the non-negotiable features this demographic group must have.

"In planning the home, we focused on two key questions," says Ken Niemerski, NCARB, who is part of the Bassenian Lagoni (BL) design team for The Responsive Home with colleague Hans Anderle. "How do we make it easy for someone just starting out to buy a home? And, how do we help those buyers maintain their home ownership over time?"

BL answered those questions in two ways:

1) by carving out space in the home's open floor plan (a Millennial "must-have") for use as a short-term rental to generate income to cover the monthly mortgage;

2) by creating a 384-square-foot casita over the attached two-car garage (another Millennial must) for a longer-term rental opportunity — but, again, to shrink the monthly mortgage to more manageable proportions for a couple just starting out.

However, as the owners grow their family, the rental areas can be readily converted into comfortable living spaces. "We wanted a home that can morph and flex over time," explains Anderle. "This structure is designed to be truly responsive to the changing needs of a growing family that, after a while, will no longer need rental income to cover the mortgage."

Among the many "EnergySmart" and "WaterSmart" amenities built into The Contemporary Farmhouse are:

• a highly energy-efficient building envelope and wall design to minimize air gaps;
• radiant-barrier roofing panels to deflect the heat of the sun, thus reducing attic temperatures and the overall cooling load;
• low-emissivity glass windows to keep the heat outside in the summer and inside during the winter;
• LED lighting throughout the structure, using 75 percent less energy while lasting up to 50 times longer and — again — cutting the cooling load during the warmer months;

In addition, the basic rectangular footprint of the home and its simple ridge roof design permit the location of a 6.97-kilowatt solar voltaic system that promises to furnish nearly all of the home's electricity. The system is west-facing for the show home in Henderson, but BL's versatile rooftop design allows the structure to be oriented in any direction to accommodate a west- or south-facing PV solar array.

The general public and the media are invited to tour the Responsive Home project during the International Builders' Show (January 19-21) to see first-hand the many innovations in design, layout and amenities specifically targeting today's young buyers: from open floor plans to outdoor living quarters to rental space atop the garage.

For an appointment, contact: Heather McCune at Bassenian Lagoni: [email protected]; 949-553-9100; extension 245.

Hi-res versions of photographs to accompany this release are available for immediate download in .tif format by using this link: http://bla.oreilly-depalma.com/2016/responsive-homes.shtml.

ABOUT BASSENIAN LAGONI

Bassenian Lagoni Architects is an architecture, land planning and interior design firm specializing in the design of sought-after places to live, work and play. With a staff of over 100 people in offices in Newport Beach and Shanghai, the firm aims to lead the field of design as it works in partnership with builder and developer clients to create communities that appeal to home buyers and to builders seeking a competitive edge.

Media Contact: 
Heather McCune
[email protected] 
949.553.9100

SOURCE Bassenian Lagoni Architects