Ross Chapin Architects

• Overview
  • Architecture firm led by Ross Chapin — the architect and author who originated the modern “pocket neighborhood.” Based in Langley, WA (Whidbey Island).
• People
  • Ross Chapin — architect and author; originated the modern pocket neighborhood; author of the book Pocket Neighborhoods
• Notable Work
  • Pocket Neighborhoods (book)
  • “Good Fit Homes” — a collection of ~100 house plans from his projects (rosschapin.com)
  • ULI course for developers on scaling pocket neighborhoods
  • Influenced Kamiak Cottages (Pullman, WA)
• Current Work
  • A pocket neighborhood for adults with special needs (autism, Down syndrome), with families and caregivers
  • A pocket-neighborhood project with a community in rural Kentucky
• Approach & Signature Ideas
  • Pocket neighborhoods designed around the “scale of sociability” (small groups of ~6–12)
  • “Pattern writing” (after Christopher Alexander’s A Pattern Language) as the “DNA that generates the plan”
  • Wrote a model code for larger sites to scale cottage-court principles beyond infill
  • Core features: outlook & refuge, layers of personal space, nested houses, corralled cars, eyes on shared space, real common ground
  • Governance: budget a community facilitator; keep governance at the smallest scale; “agreements, not rules”

• Roles on TND Projects

• Links & Resources
  • Ross Chapin Architects
  • Source (this profile’s detail): Townbuilders podcast, ep. 304 (host Levi Wintz) — in Resources
• Notes