Phoenix House

Phoenix House is a small, solar-powered, mass timber, affordable supportive services home designed to assist members of our community transitioning from homelessness to stable and dignified housing. This unique home has been designed using an innovative cross laminated timber (CLT) shell, wrapped in a highly-insulated and air-tight building envelop, and clad with a wood rainscreen. The interior of the home is characterized by exposed and highly durable materials and surfaces, including exposed cross laminated timber walls and ceilings and exposed concrete floors with radiant floor heating. Exposed wood surfaces were prioritized due to recognition that wood materials provide documented regenerative and stress reduction outcomes through the appealing aesthetics of color, tactility, smell, humidity-regulation, and indoor air quality.

Phoenix House was designed and built in Spring 2024 by KU Architecture students for Tenants to Homeowners, a local non-profit organization focused on helping individuals and families with affordable housing since 1992. Phoenix House's highly-insulated and air-tight envelop, coupled with low-maintenance and durable finishes, is complemented by a mini-split heat pump and energy recovery ventilator. The goal was to provide Tenants to Homeowners with a repeatable model for a durable, comfortable, easy-to-live-in home that uplifts its occupant on their road to recovery.