ARCH 212: ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN & THEORY II 

A CASE FOR THE MISSING MIDDLE

In this studio students explore the design of multi-family housing, an urban walk-up building of three or four stories, in San Bernardino. Housing is an important subject to tackle as a component of a comprehensive architecture curriculum because of its role as the building block of cities. The neighborhood character and social life of San Bernardino’s diverse neighborhoods was and is still defined by the individual residential buildings that make up the neighborhood fabric. 

Planners working in communities across North America are lamenting the lack of ‘missing middle’ housing as part of the development tool kit. The ‘missing middle’ encompasses a wide range of housing types that are neither single-family homes nor the large double-loaded corridor apartment buildings that are the dominant residential building type being built today. 

Examples of missing middle housing include two-family buildings (duplexes), three-family buildings (triple-deckers), and small apartment buildings of up to twelve or so units. The lack of missing middle housing is partly being driven by economics and regulations. Developers build as densely as they can before triggering the high-rise code (see above) and missing middle types are typically not permitted in most zoning districts, except in commercial districts where larger apartment buildings are also allowed. As a result, the zoning is being changed in many cities to encourage the production of new manifestations of missing middle housing. 

Missing middle housing has several advantages from an urban design standpoint. The buildings typically fit on the smaller lots of existing urban residential neighborhoods, and when built as part of a larger new development, they create a more walkable neighborhood with a wider range of unit types and levels of affordability. They also make it easier to provide private outdoor space to each of the units.