Olivia Place Apartments

Rural Edge Housing & Community Development provides sustainable, affordable housing throughout the Northeast Kingdom. Their goal for this project was to replace two poorly functioning apartment buildings with two new energy efficient apartment buildings. They partnered with Evernorth (formerly Housing Vermont) to develop this project. The 20,000 sf project provides 20 total affordable apartments, with a mix of 1-,2-, and 3-bedroom units. The site incorporates a community garden, playground area, and common barbecue space. Keeping the apartments close to the center of Lyndonville provides residents easy access to shopping, services, and public transportation. A keystone belief held by the entire project team is that everyone deserves a safe, clean, accessible, and affordable place to live. 

This project faced a few challenges at the outset:

• The project site contained two buildings in poor condition. After some review it was determined that the most cost-effective approach would be to replace the buildings with a new energy efficient building.
• A portion of the site contained contaminated soils that would require replacement. The contaminated soils were transported to a lined and regulated site. 
• The existing curb cut was to be maintain in the center of lot. This initiated discussions of two smaller buildings, rather than one larger one.
• The existing size and scale of the adjacent buildings needed to be respected. This supported the concept of two buildings.
• Two buildings, split by a driveway, created a separation between features and amenities that the ownership team wanted to provide. The design focused the shared site amenities in the space between the buildings, maintaining a relationship between the buildings and providing a space for togetherness and shared activities.

‍