Architect Josh Shelton said some of the midcentury influence that shaped the Heartland Habitat prototype in Kansas City came from a previous project, his own home, which featured slotted doors and an entry courtyard. The overall design rests on the idea of the outdoors as a social gathering space. "I've been fascinated with how you can extend the climate of a place like Kansas City into the domestic space," says Shelton. "You don’t see a lot of homes like this built in the city. Ventilation and circulation can really open up the home and add a few more months of not using air conditioning or heating."
Image courtesy of Mike Sinclair.
It wasn't a stretch to bring California to Kansas City, according to architect Josh Shelton. When his firm El Dorado was chosen to design a Habitat for Humanity home, part of Public Architecture’s 1% for Habitat Initiative, his thoughts pivoted around the outdoors. While factoring in the cost and material constraints, Shelton also examined how design lessons drawn from more ideal climates could be applied to his own backyard. The results, as he explains, point to an affordable, more sustainable way to shape a home around outdoor space. "I was less interested in the traditional front and back yard," he says. "I was thinking about indoor and outdoor holistically, and how I could utilize those pivotal early spring and late fall moments."
