Charlotte NC | 2022 | Community Space

The People’s Porch is a platform for community activism in Charlotte’s Enderly Park Neighborhood.

In this space, West Side residents and neighborhood leaders can gather to organize around matters of concern. This flexible community architecture can host events such as neighborhood pop up markets, picnics for family and friends, meetings, skills classes and training workshops, or stage performances. On a more permanent basis, there is dedicated space for bike repair services and training, a key local transportation need.

The design build project emerged in response to resident feedback from the September 2018 Neighborhood Design: Housing Workshop (supported by funding from multiple AIA NC Activate Grants, and AIA National Blueprint for Better). The workshop, held September 22, 2018, brought together AIA design professionals, academics, WSCLT members, stakeholders and residents, to share thoughts on community needs within Enderly Park. The need for an accessible and open public community gathering place emerged from the charette and subsequent discussions.

SILO was asked to lead the design/build effort and serve as the architect of record. The architecture explores how a single inexpensive material (dimensional lumber), coupled with an unconventional yet “easy” construction logic (lap joints), can create a dynamic, flexible, and layered space. Using lap joints minimized cuts, allowing each layer to serve as form-work and scaffold for the next part of the sequence. The design-build effort engaged volunteers and students, delivering a built framework to the community to be given identity through color and imagery.

People’s Porch is a collaborative partnership between the West Side Community Land Trust (WSCLT), AIA Charlotte (AIA), UNC Charlotte School of Architecture, and Community Stakeholders to launch concrete actions that promote affordable housing and reduce displacement from neighborhoods on the West Side of Charlotte.

Photography by Keith Isaacs