It's one thing to design a beautiful $700,000 home. 

But a $170,000 one? That's a challenge. 

Nonetheless, 32 architects and their teams rose to the test by submitting plans for the Next Home 2021 Design Competition. The contest, announced in April, was sponsored by the Neighborhood Design Center in Columbus and others with a clear goal: to build decent new homes average people can afford.

"There's a perception that an affordable house is shoddy or not well-built. Hopefully good design can mitigate some of those concerns," said Lisa Snyder, project manager for the Neighborhood Design Center. "You can build affordably, but can you also build well?" 

Snyder and others say they're pleased with the response to the challenge. More than 50 firms expressed interest in the contest and plans were submitted by 32 firms, almost all of them from Greater Columbus.

Organizers and participants say interest in affordable housing has rarely been higher, with rising land, labor and material costs pushing the median cost of a new home in  Greater Columbus to $397,500 in August, well beyond the means of most residents.

"I was pleasantly surprised, but not totally surprised, in the interest. It's a testament to folks wanting to find different ways of doing things," said Curtiss Williams, president and CEO of the Central Ohio Community Improvement Corporation (COCIC), the county's land bank, which helped sponsor the contest with the Columbus Land Redevelopment Division, the city's land bank. Also partnering were the American Institute of Architects' Columbus chapter and the Building Industry Association of Central Ohio. 

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For some of the participants, the challenge was personal. Eliza Ho, a partner in the winning firm Tim Lai ArchitecT, has seen the challenges some of the firm's younger associates have had finding homes. Rebecca Caprini, a member of the second-place team, has seen it firsthand. 

"As a millennial and as someone who has struggled to afford a home, or been priced out, I have a passion for this," said Caprini, owner of the real-estate firm CK Consultants.

Plans had to include at least 800 square feet of living space, be easily built and replicated, suitable for the Ohio climate and meet all building codes. And be buildable for under $170,000.

The $170,000 doesn't include the lot, which will be provided by the city or county land bank. That makes this contest more than an academic exercise.

"We’re committed to building these two homes," Williams said. 

A jury of civic leaders, planners, architects and builders selected three winners. First place went to Tim Lai ArchitecT for a plan called the Felix; second to a four-member design and construction team including Archall Architects for homes called the lofthaus and ranchaus; and third to Gunzelman Architects + Interiors for its modular home. 

For $170,000, don't expect fancy finishes or even attics, garages or basements. 

"The constraint was to build a home for under $170,000," Caprini said. "It was a great challenge because it allowed our team to get to the granular — every single building material, every layout. What do you have to have in a home? What do you really need?"

The winning homes are modest in size, but they feature open, bright and modern layouts.

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They also feature unconventional construction methods: The top three winners all bypass stick-frame construction. One relies on pole-barn framing, another on structural insulated panels and the third on pods that could be built in a factory and trucked to the site.

The winning entries are all designed to be easily modified, by enclosing existing space or adding a pod or a simple expansion.

Participating architects and organizers say the plans succeed in challenging conventional ways homes should be designed or how they should be built.

"We've settled on the standard house that we believe everyone has to have — three bedrooms, two-and-a-half baths and a two-car attached garage," Williams said. "Not everyone wants or needs that." 

COCIC's subsidiary, the Central Ohio Community Land Trust, will start working with Tim Lai ArchitecT to build two homes on land bank sites. 

"It is our hope that the construction will begin in the spring," Williams sai

About 20 lots have been identified as possible sites for the homes: eight in the Hilltop, most along Oakley or Wheatland avenues north of West Broad Street; and 11 in Whitehall, most in the Glencoe and Langport neighborhoods near East Main Street and South Hamilton Road.

Those who didn't come in first place aren't ready to shove their plans in a drawer. Both the second- and third-place teams hope to build their designs.

Organizers and participants know the Next Home competition and the houses that will result from it won't solve the need for an estimated 54,000 affordable homes in Greater Columbus. 

"This is not the silver bullet solution, if you look at the total number of houses we need," Snyder said. "This could be the starting line, not the finish line."

• First place: The "Felix" by Tim Lai ArchitecT, with Titan Facility Services and COhatch

The wining design is based on a post-frame construction, like a pole barn, an inexpensive method that allows for easy expansion. 

The simple gabled rectangle, on a slab, is divided into a heated area of about 800 square feet, including a loft, and a 400-foot "conservatory" extension encased in clear polycarbonate that could be easily enclosed later if more space is needed. 

"Flexibility is really the essence of the design," said Eliza Ho, a partner in Tim Lai ArchitecT. "We want the concept to be flexible … We also want to put a new spin on the idea of affordable housing. People think, 'Oh, they’re built cheap and not sustainable and for a specific demographic. There needs to be a new way of thinking of affordable housing."

Ho said cost details must be worked out but she understands the $170,000 goal.

"We see that as a challenge," she said. "We’re keeping our eye on the construction market, knowing the price has gone up so much during the pandemic."

Other details must be addressed, such as whether the polycarbonate roof would overheat the conservatory in the summer, before construction can begin. But growing up in Hong Kong, where smaller homes were the norm, she and Tim Lai are excited to pursue their Felix idea in Ohio.

"We think there might be a niche market for something more efficient, some place to live more simply," she said. "We want to put a new spin on the idea of affordable housing."

• Second place: The ranchaus and lofthaus by Archall Architects, CK Consultants, Compton Construction and Rise Home Builders

The team presented to versions of its plan: an 1,166-square-foot one-bedroom and loft style called the lofthaus, and a 972-square-foot, two-bedroom single-story plan called the ranchaus. Both are built of structural insulated panels — foam sandwiched between oriented strand board — that provide tremendous insulation. 

The structural insulated panels are more expensive than conventional 2-by-4 framing and require additional air-handling and dehumidifying equipment. But even with those added expenses, building with the panels proved to be no more expensive than conventional material because homes can be built so much more quickly, saving an estimated 55% in labor costs, said team member Rebeca Caprini.

"We could build a house in 12 weeks," she said. 

The estimated cost of the ranch design was $159,000, while the loft design was $169,000.  

Even though the cost of operating and maintaining the homes wasn't a criterion, the structural insulated panels greatly reduce utility bills, Caprini noted.

Like the Felix, the ranchaus and lofthaus are designed to be easily expanded. A bedroom could be added to the rear or another unit added to the side for a duplex.

• Third place: Gunzelman Architects + Interiors, Buckeye Construction Systems

The third-place design relies on 12-by-12-foot pods that could be built off-site and assembled on the lot in a variety of ways. Modules would be designed for different uses — cooking, dining, sleeping, living, and so forth — allowing for great flexibility and low cost. 

"This is something that goes together like an Ikea kit," said Gunzelman Architects owner Laurie Gunzelman. "You'd buy a kitchen, a bedroom, a vertical access module. You'd only buy what you need." 

The submitted plan calls for six modules for 878 square feet at a cost of $169,000.

Modules are spaced to allow front and rear porches and an interior patio, creating a lot of window opportunities.

"We thought everything about the house should be about encouraging healthy lifestyles ... with lots of natural ventilation and daylight," Gunzelman said.  

Despite some challenges, such as no local builder of pre-fabricated homes or modules, Gunzelman is hoping to see her firm's design get built.

"Obviously, we'd love to have the opportunity to build these homes in the area of need, but if that's not possible," she said, "maybe even developing the system on our own." 

To see other designs for the Next Home 2021 competition, visit NextHome2021.org or visit the Center for Architecture and Design, 50 W. Town St., Suite 110.