5314 NE 13th Ave Affordable Housing
Four-story multifamily housing addressing Portland's affordability challenges
Project Name: 5314 NE 13th Ave Affordable Housing
Type: Academic Graduate Project
Course: Affordable Housing Seminar
Date: 2025
Location: Portland, OR
Type: Multi-family, Affordable Housing
Individual project
Project Description
5314 NE 13th Ave Affordable Housing is a four-story multifamily housing proposal located in Portland’s Vernon neighborhood. The project addresses the area’s growing affordability challenges, where relatively high incomes coexist with significant rent burden, particularly among single-parent households and seniors.
Design Strategy
The design leverages Oregon and Portland affordable housing code provisions to maximize density while remaining sensitive to the surrounding residential context. A central courtyard organizes the project, improving daylight, ventilation, and social interaction, while breaking down the building mass to reduce its perceived scale along the street.
The unit mix includes studios, one-, two-, and three-bedroom units, supporting a diverse range of household types. Decentralized common spaces and ground-floor amenities encourage everyday interaction, strengthen community ties, and promote safety through visual connections between private and public spaces.
Unit design
Strategic openess. The layout provides open spaces, each one with an appropriate threshold allowing privacy and smooth transitions between spaces.
Split bathroom. A split bathroom allows for a most efficient use. Having an independent sink, the most commonly used amenity, reduces friction between the users.
Presentation Boards
