New Hope, PA 2012 The existing foundations of a hundred-year-old derelict duplex on a site forbidden by modern zoning and within stream buffers disallowed by environmental constraints, served as the platform upon which to build a new structure of two housing units. It is called a “two-plex” because each unit is distinctly different.
In each unit, a bedroom was sacrificed to give a two-story height to the living rooms. The indoor and outdoor living areas of each unit front onto the stream. The south unit also has an elevated deck patio, part of which is a green roof.
The exterior siding is comprised of three styles of the same wood: board and batt, horizontal ship lap, and vertical siding. These siding arrangements, along with fenestration, break down the mass of the building while maintaining the verticality of the original building.
