Ourhouse: Gender-Inclusive Student Housing

Since the origins of academia, student housing has predominantly remained segregated and has excluded many people groups. Over the course of academic history, many people groups were slowly allowed to attend university and college, with enrollments gradually expanding from solely white men of a certain class to now a wide spectrum of people. Yet the construct of housing in the academic context has largely remained separated by gender, either by floor or by building. Where do other gender identities fit into this norm and how can we make all types of students feel safe and supported? The goal of this project is to address this inadequacy by proposing a gender-inclusive student housing building for the new Virginia Tech Innovation Campus located at Potomac Yard. Through extensive research of student housing in addition to the history of gender and gendered spaces, "Ourhouse" evolved into an architectural solution to the lack of inclusivity. It takes the typical dorm-style student housing to another level by creating safe, genderless spaces while simultaneously catering to the needs of an individual student. The project raises questions of what it means to be inclusive and how we can normalize highly gendered spaces such as bathrooms. By incorporating communal spaces for bathrooms, kitchens, and laundry spaces, this can begin to remove the stigma surrounding gender within those spaces. Single-user restrooms are also available to those who may find that more comfortable. The variety of sizes, privacy levels, and porosity makes the residences agreeable and functional for anyone who lives there. It also retains the sense of community that students receive from living in conventional dorms. "Ourhouse" aims to be a model for the future of gender-inclusive housing that is expressed not only as a system but goes the extra mile by also being embedded within the architecture.