Environment
Lowe’s Makes Katrina Cottages Available
for Purchase
(archrecord.construction.com - 11/03/2006)
By Sam
Lubell
Katrina Cottages, kit-of-parts houses
designed for hurricane-affected residents of the Gulf region,
will finally be available to the public. The hardware superstore
chain Lowe’s will sell the systems in its Louisiana and
Mississippi stores in late fall.
The bungalow-style cottages range in
size from 544 square feet to 936 square feet, and some can
be expanded to 1,200 square feet. Featuring Hardy Plank siding,
wood framing, and metal roofing, they were developed as cheaper,
more durable, and more attractive alternatives to the trailers
that FEMA has dispensed throughout the area: The homes resist
rot and termites, withstand winds of up to 140 miles an hour,
and meet the standards of most hurricane codes as well as
the International Building Code.
New York–based architect Marianne
Cusato first introduced Katrina Cottages at the International
Builders’ Show in Orlando in January 2006. She designed
two of Lowe’s first four models, while the others were
designed by architect Andres Duany, one of the founders of
the Congress for the New Urbanism, and by South Carolina architect
Eric Moser. The next rollout may include as many as 15 new
designs, Cusato says. Dave Steed, General Merchandise Manager
at Lowe’s, says that the company is aiming for a $45-per-square-foot
cost. Prices encompass all building materials, but exclude
construction, HVAC, and code-related foundation materials.
“We can’t just put up barracks,
or assembly-line housing,” Cusato says of the need for
the regionally inspired cottages. “There has to be something
that creates a sense of place. We have to get the sense of
community that was lost back.” More than 250,000 homes
need to be replaced or repaired in the region.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency
and Department of Homeland Security have launched a $400 million
program that will likely help the cottages take hold. The
FEMA/DHS pilot supports temporary modular housing and favors
“context-sensitive housing” It should be “better”
and “cheaper” than the “current trailer-park
method of sheltering disaster victims,” says Tom Wolfe,
senior director of federal affairs at the AIA. Wolfe says
that many types of temporary housing will be considered for
funding, including the cottages.
States have until October 20 to submit
their applications for program funds, which will be evaluated
by a FEMA-appointed selection committee comprising government
representatives and housing experts. How the states propose
to dispense the money—via low-interest loans to developers
or grants to residents, for example—is at their discretion,
Wolfe says. The FEMA/DHS program is based on requirements
in H.R. 4939 Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act. The
AIA lobbied heavily in favor of the bill, which became law
in June.
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