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AGA Aging in Place

Sponsors: mGAP – Montclair Gateway to Aging in Place (501 (c) (3);
AARP and the Partners for Health Foundation
Competition manager: AIAS NJIT Freedom by Design
Type: open to students currently at  academic institutions in the Northeast AIAS Quadrant
Eligibility: Undergraduate and Graduate Students eligible
Fee: $30
Language: English
Timetable:
September 20, 2023 – Registration deadline
September 30, 2023: Q&A closure
October 25, 2023 – Deadline for submission
October 31, 2023 – Announcement of winners
Awards:
(Note: Contestants can only win in one category.)
First Prize (Winner Overall):       $2,000
Second Prize (Second Overall):   $1,500
Third Prize (Third Overall):         $1,050
Best in Category (575 sq. ft.):            150
Best in Category (800 sq. ft.)            150
Best in Category (1200 sq. ft.)          150
(Total prize money: $5,000)
Design Challenge:
The intent of this competition is to encourage local communities to adopt Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) ordinances to help address the shortage of accessible housing options for aging in place. As of March 2023, Montclair homeowners have the option of constructing ADUs in their backyards to provide new housing options suitable for: aging-in-place, housing the disabled, and accommodating small family units of one or two adults. We hope to see such ordinances replicated throughout New Jersey.
Our newspapers are rife with stories about the shortage of financially sustainable housing for diverse populations in American communities. Historically, housing development has focused on the single-family dwelling designed for an idealized family of two parents and two children. This convention no longer reflects the true demographics of our society. In fact, by 2034 New Jersey will have more residents born between 1945 and 1975 than children in the public schools. How will NJ take steps toward housing this aging population in the next decades? How can NJ keep these residents from fleeing our Township, our State, and even our region in favor of States and regions where living is more affordable?

This is an ideas competition which has two major goals:
1. Address the housing income challenge for seniors who want to age in place
2. Propose solutions for increasing density in first ring suburbs that are least

impactful on streetscape and infrastructure.

With great design insights and innovative thinking, small-scale architecture can create viable, sustainable opportunities for seniors to age in place, and open the suburbs up to more and better ways to live. The mGAP ADU Design Competition, sponsored by AARP and The Partners for Health Foundation, would like to hear from representatives of universities, schools, and colleges offering architecture/design studies. We are tasking both individual and teams of undergraduate and graduate architectural students currently enrolled in an architectural program in the northeastern quadrant of the USA to design a detached ADU suitable for a first ring NJ suburban community. Designs should explore how architecture can offer a new housing unit on existing single-family plots that will potentially:

●  generate new rental income for the homeowner

●  provide a barrier-free residence on owner’s property

●  conform to a minimum requirement of 6 ft to property line

●  conform to a maximum height of 15 feet to the top of the roof

For additional information and to register:
https://montclairgateway.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/ADU-DesignBrief_July28_final.pdf