The Everyday House: Reimagining the American Suburban Home for Hybrid Living

6 hours ago

3 min read

A resilient suburban prototype where working, living and neighbourhood life coexist under one compact, climate-responsive roof.

Project: The Everyday House
Typology: Single-Family Suburban Housing Prototype
Context: American Suburbia, informed by New England housing traditions
Design Team: Penghui (Henry) Zhang, Telmen Bayasgalan, Shengnan Gao
School: University of Pennsylvania Weitzman School of Design — Master of Architecture alumni (2024)
Architectural Design: Flexible Living, Hybrid Work & Passive Sustainability

The Everyday House in autumn light, with a standing-seam metal upper storey over a brick base, framed by trees and meadow planting

Project Overview

The American suburban home was historically shaped around privacy, separation and the detached single-family model. Yet the way people live and work has fundamentally changed. Rising housing costs, evolving household structures and the widespread adoption of hybrid and remote work demand a new type of suburban home — one that supports flexibility, connection and everyday adaptability.

The Everyday House, designed by Penghui (Henry) Zhang, Telmen Bayasgalan and Shengnan Gao, reimagines the suburban house as a resilient prototype for the next generation of American families. Rather than treating the home as a collection of isolated rooms, the project creates a flexible living environment where working, living and social interaction seamlessly coexist.

Dusk view of The Everyday House within a neighbourhood of similar gabled homes and shared green space

Exploded axonometric of The Everyday House cluster revealing interiors, workspaces, gardens and construction of prefabricated modules

From Private Lot to Connected Neighbourhood

The house challenges suburban isolation by extending domestic life beyond the interior. A direct connection between the backyard and the surrounding community creates opportunities for informal encounters, shared activities and stronger neighbourhood relationships, so that the private suburban home becomes a more open and connected part of the larger community.

At the neighbourhood scale, the existing pattern of detached houses on isolated lots is reworked: new homes are clustered around shared paths and communal green spaces, knitting backyards together into a continuous landscape of gardens and gathering places.

Site plan of the proposed neighbourhood with clustered Everyday Houses around shared gardens and paths

Diagram of the existing suburban neighbourhood with detached houses on separate lots

Diagram of the proposed neighbourhood with new houses linked by shared community paths and green spaces

A New England Lineage

Inspired by the enduring principles of New England houses, the project reinterprets their compact footprints, efficient layouts, durable materials and climate-responsive forms through a contemporary lens. A comparative study of typical American suburban houses — their elevations, footprints and room layouts — informs a plan that is compact yet generous.

American housing case studies comparing elevations and floor plans of traditional suburban house types

The Central Service Core

A centralised service core consolidates kitchens, bathrooms, storage, circulation and mechanical systems. Gathering these functions into a single spine reduces construction complexity while keeping the surrounding spaces open and flexible over time — rooms can be reconfigured as a household grows, shrinks or changes the way it works.

Ground floor plan of The Everyday House set within its garden, driveway and landscape

Second floor plan of The Everyday House with bedrooms, bathrooms and flexible spaces around the central core

Section AA through The Everyday House showing the double-height living space, gabled roof, solar panels and raised foundation

Work Woven Through the Home

Designed for young households with hybrid and remote work lifestyles, the house integrates dedicated workspaces throughout the home instead of confining work to a single office. Custom millwork desks are strategically embedded within circulation zones and shared spaces, allowing residents to move naturally between focused work, family activities and daily routines.

By reconsidering traditional suburban priorities, portions of conventional living and dining areas are transformed into productive spaces that better reflect contemporary life.

Millwork diagram showing built-in desks and storage units embedded across the first and second floors

Warm timber kitchen with an integrated corner workspace, open shelving and garden views

Living room interior with a deep blue sofa, sculptural red armchair and large picture window

Passive Strategies and All-Electric Performance

Passive strategies form the foundation of the design. South-oriented living spaces maximise solar gain, carefully proportioned openings provide daylight and natural ventilation, and a high-performance, all-electric system works with the building envelope to reduce operational energy while maintaining comfort.

Solar Energy

Roof-mounted photovoltaic panels on the south-facing pitch generate on-site electricity, feeding the all-electric home directly.

HVAC and Energy Recovery Ventilation

An energy recovery ventilation (ERV) system, distributed through the central core, supplies fresh air while retaining heat and humidity balance — keeping indoor air quality high without wasting energy.

HVAC and ERV system diagram with supply and exhaust air routed through the central service core

Rainwater Management

Rainwater is collected from the roof for reuse, while rain gardens, detention areas and evapotranspiration through planting manage stormwater on site before any overflow reaches the municipal sewer.

Heat Island Reduction

A high R-value envelope, prefabricated construction, a metal roof and wall cladding over a brick base, and shading across 75% of the parking area work together to reduce the urban heat island effect.

Presentation Boards

Presentation board 1 of The Everyday House with the hero render, design statement and American housing case studies

Presentation board 2 with the exploded community axonometric, sustainability diagrams and site plan

Presentation board 3 with the ground floor plan and interior renders

Presentation board 4 with the second floor plan, section AA and exterior and interior views

A New Suburban Model

Through a balance of adaptable planning, sustainable performance and community-oriented design, The Everyday House proposes a new suburban model — one that is compact yet generous, efficient yet personal, and rooted in the changing realities of contemporary American life.

About the Team

The three designers are 2024 Master of Architecture alumni of the University of Pennsylvania Weitzman School of Design, now working as architectural designers in Boston, Chicago and New York City.

Penghui (Henry) Zhang is an architectural and interior designer at Elkus Manfredi Architects in Boston, and previously worked at Kohn Pedersen Fox (KPF) in New York City. He holds a Master of Architecture from the University of Pennsylvania and studied interior design at Pratt Institute. His diverse portfolio spans residential, workspace, hospitality and architectural illustration projects.

Telmen Bayasgalan is an architectural designer at FGP Atelier in Chicago. His professional focus includes architectural design, computational design, visualisation and urban development, with a particular interest in the relationship between design and real estate development.

Shengnan Gao is an architectural and interior designer at Architect Associates LLP, specialising in commercial interior design, hospitality renovations, visualisation and graphic design.