In response to the Four Square House design problem the proposal is nourished by the idea of a hypothetical Garden City.

The aim is to re-think the suburban single residence model and propose a design for a multi-residential type that retains the individuality of single residences but produces a more urban environment, where the buildings can address the edges of the streets but can also offer seamless public gardens. The design proposal hinges on the idea of a spatial device, which is defined as the ‘shell’. The shell negotiates the urban space on the 36m square blocks and the four houses find their place within it. The houses can be positioned within the shells according to the need for shading or sun penetration related to a specific site condition, climate, orientation, latitude and needs for size and future expansion. The design of the houses and their location within the shells trigger dynamic relationships and interactions between public and private gardens, adjacent houses and neighboring buildings. The shape of the shell engages with the geometry of the square, sometimes highlighting its edges (urban contiguity), sometimes moving away from them (residential privacy), resulting in an ‘urban dance’ between residential blocks.