Biloxi Model Home Program

Since Hurricane Katrina, Architecture for Humanity has been working throughout the Gulf Coast to help families repair and rebuild their homes. Our funding has supported everything from property surveys, to assessments to creating construction guidelines and standards to the design and construction of homes. Through this program the rehabilitation of hundreds of partially destroyed housing stock is under way. However, for true long-term reconstruction we need to address the way we build in hurricane prone communities.

The goal of the Biloxi Model Home program is to provide design services and financial assistance for the construction of homes that for families in Biloxi, Mississippi whose houses were destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. Families are paired with a team of professional designers who work with them one-on-one to design a new home for their property that is not only affordable but is also sustainable and meets the area's new building requirements.

The pilot program is unique in that it offers families the opportunity to work one-on-one with architects and design professionals giving them access to expertise and design talent. Using the latest in materials research, disaster mitigation and sustainable building techniques, we see this as an opportunity for architects to help set the bar for new construction in the area.

To jump start the program, Architecture for Humanity invited twelve established local and national firms to create proposals for homes that meet the new challenges of disaster-mitigation in the post-Katrina environment. (Download firm profiles and concept designs.) In August these firms participated in a House Fair. The event was open to the public, but also served as a vehicle for seven participating families to meet and talk with the architects one-on-one and select a design team with which to work.

In addition to sponsoring the Model Home program, Architecture for Humanity is collaborating with the East Biloxi Coordination Relief and Redevelopment Agency, Hands On Gulf Coast and the Gulf Coast Community Design Studio to bring volunteer designers and architects to East Biloxi. These volunteers have and will continue to assist community partners with everything from lot assessments, to training, to providing design services, to hands-on reconstruction.

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We are grateful to Oprah's Angel Network and the following sponsors for making this program possible: