A reader sent us this story from the University of Buffalo Reporter that looks at Quad Space — a home in Buffalo’s Black Rock neighborhood that four UB architecture students renovated for their thesis project.
After purchasing the run-down property for $6,500 at a public auction, students Michael-John Bailie, Paul Dudkowski, Ernest Ng and Dan Stripp spent a year and about $36,000 transforming the small home. Although it measures less than 700 square feet, it features a bathroom, parlor, four bedrooms and a kitchenette.
The protruding cubes are the private bedrooms and all measure "7-by-7-by-7.5 foot space, conforming to New York’s minimum requirements for the width, length and height of bedrooms"
You can see many more photos and read more about this project in UB Reporter | Students find opportunity in ‘quad’ house.
Images: Douglas Levere





Comments (17)
Kudos for trying to do something different, but this is awful. The poor house looks like it got stuck in a teleporter accident.
I quite like this little house--there are a few more photos in the linked article. (No good photos of the kitchen and bath, tho.) Two of the students plan to live there once city inspections are done, and I'd be interested to see how it functions as a living space.
what's the point to fit four bedroom in a 700 square feet?
I think these guys did an amazing job-- Really creative, interesting work. I'd hire them in a minute.
Really creative of them. I like the concept.
Awesome job! Creative and interesting on a small-scale, I'd like to see what they could do with a bigger budget on a bigger lot.
It looks really good for the price they got the house. Being pretty much honest, the bedrooms in this house are the same size as single dorms...and not that much smaller than most dorms that two people have to share.
Yul - My guess is the point of four bedrooms is that it could be shared by four people. Since four people made it, I guess one for each person - LOL - even though two don't plan to live there? The project will definitely get them their A for managing to get so much in that small of a space.
@Blandwagon: That made me laugh out loud!
I grew up in Buffalo, when I saw this post, I wanted to say "Let's Go Buffalo!",
but then, I started looking through the image... "Umm... Let's Go Buffalo????!!"
As a Buffalo native, do we really need more bad press?
Seriously, I really like elements of the design and the direction they were going in, but I have to agree with Blandwagon... the comment "it looks like it got stuck in a teleporter accident." is spot on.
Great project, like the aesthetic. And it taught me something useful: plywood looks like plywood looks like plywood, no matter how much you tint & polyurethane it. If it were mine, I'd finish the protrubances in clapboard (though the aestheitc suggests stainless...).
Hey, all you naysayers: These guys are *architecture* students, and this is a thesis project. It's supposed to be a little out there. They're learning.
Any of you remember your first attempts at walking, fingerpainting, working with fractions, dating, job interviewing, yoga? We try new things, and over time, we get better at them.
Design ain't no different from life.
I think the outside is totally successful, the old meets new is cool and interesting and well done. The inside is obviously not conventional, this is clearly intentional! As an architect, one is supposed to try something different than the standard. That is how great buildings are made (eventually!?). They did just that. The other thing is, it is supposed to suit the needs of the resident, not people posting on AT. They did that as well. So, it certainly isn't something I would want to live in, but I think they did a really great job.
Let's remember that this is a student project before getting so negative.
This is like the most awesome clubhouse EVER. Actually I believe I could live there, if the raw-looking surfaces were painted.
I like the outside better than the inside at first glance. I think this is a work in progress--and in the future, I'd love to see what the interior of the house morphs into.
"what's the point to fit four bedroom in a 700 square feet?"
...this house is perfect for four guys in grad school, or a viable solution to purchasing foreclosed homes and turning them into affordable housing.
those plywood cubes do look like they could use some more insulation. it is buffalo.
haha after reading ghunt's comment, I have to admit I would freeze to death in that house...I lived in that section of Buffalo a few years ago (yay cheap college housing!) and the wind off the lake cuts right through the best insulated homes.
I think it's incredible that there were able to fit 4 bedrooms in 700 square feet. Now they just need to get a design student in there to spiff the inside up and they are all set to rent!