Open Table Nashville is a “non-profit, interfaith community that disrupts cycles of poverty, journeys with the marginalized and provides education about issues of homelessness.” Centric began working with Open Table in 2015 to assist in bringing to fruition an idea of providing permanent, low income housing for the hundreds of individuals who habitually fall through the cracks of traditional homeless transitional housing programs.
The intent of the Micro-home village is to help fill the 20,000+ unit shortage that Nashville currently has in accessible, low-income housing. The idea began with easily build-able, affordable building blocks that met the base needs of a home while providing a supportive community. The challenge for Centric was multifold: Create an easily replicable housing model that was unitized and pared down to modules to save cost, while creating a non-homogenous, unique village of different housing units in order to provide dignified living arrangements for our most vulnerable citizens. Additionally, the micro-home or Tiny-home model had been most commonly provided as a mobile home or trailer.
Centric and Open Table worked with the city of Nashville to design a true single-family detached home in all senses of the International Residential Code, while maintaining a minimal footprint and building area. Centric was able to accomplish this in units of 220 sf and under. The homes are built on foundations, hard wired and plumbed. The surrounding village layout supports community building with amenities such as community gardens and recreation spaces.
