The approach that we are proposing integrates ideas from the existing housing programs with innovative techniques from a Kansas State University fifth-year architecture studio. In the North Central and Northwest Kansas area, there are currently no architecture firms focused on rural housing. Our plan includes someone skilled in architecture and oversight of rural buildings. The
Our team has over fifteen years in studying rural housing problems and we have hired a Rural Architecture Lead who comes to the project with a master’s degree in Architecture and multiple years of rural housing experience.
Our Rural Architecture Lead, Harley Schuster, came to us with a master’s degree in Architecture from Kansas State University. She participated in the Net Positive Studio which studied, designed, planned, and built rural housing in St. John and Ogden, Kansas. Through this work, her studio won the prestigious Kremer Prize, which is awarded for outstanding collaborative design achievements by students in the final semester of the Professional Master of Architecture Program. Throughout her time at K-State, she developed an interest in the rural development of workforce housing and a focus on adaptive reuse projects for downtown revitalization.
Harley grew up in rural North Central/Northwest Kansas and has chosen to come back to the area to amplify her impact as a professional. She was a former Dane G. Hansen intern for Republic County Economic Development where she studied housing issues and proposed housing designs for rural housing. She previously worked at HTK Architecture in Topeka, Kansas.
Serving as Coordinator on Kansas Health Foundation and Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS) grants over the last five years, Jenny Russell specifically worked in community placemaking for BCBS efforts and in health equity for the KS Health Foundation. She worked in placemaking for additional years, as Jenny has served in rural economic development for over fifteen years in Republic and Jewell Counties. During this time, she has studied the rural housing problem, conducted research, completed surveys, tested different ideas and strived to find solutions to this issue. She has supervised and led three different architecture interns in her rural spaces over the last four years. This work included the implementation of Land Banks in multiple communities, downtown adaptive reuse, Housing Assessment Tools, and housing development programs/conversations. She has served on the national effort for the Rural Economic Development Philanthropy Innovators Network (REPIN) through the Aspen Institute in Washington D.C., the Northwest Kansas Economic Innovation Center (NWKEICI) board and helped to establish the Mankato Land Bank
Echelon Architecture – Our newest board member, Alex has recently moved back to Kansas from her architecture position in Salt Lake City, Utah. She has seen the rural housing crisis firsthand, having dealt with it in her move back to the State. Alex was also part of the NetPositive Design Studio at Kansas State University that built a panel-built house in Ogden, Kansas and helped to build the same type of house in St. John Kansas.
Assists with technical support and assistance, while providing architectural insight to projects.
To offer comprehensive development services for the creation of affordable housing serving rural, low-income, and/or workforce households in rural Kansas. To foster community stability and growth through housing improvement initiatives & development programs To improve quality of life through architectural design, development, and preservation related to downtown buildings in rural Kansas communities To offer consultant/technical assistance to organizations developing/rehabilitating affordable housing and/or downtown buildings
The iteration of designs to expand our knowledge of housing and strategies for utilization.
Learn MoreThe process of prefabrication, assembly, site-work to fully complete the project and erect the finished house on site.
Learn MoreA new solution that reconstructs standard building processes towards an affordable and net-zero housing prototype.
Learn MoreI have been working in rural Economic Development for over fifteen years. The longer that I have been around, the more that I realize how the lack of affordable housing and day care affect the success (or lack there of) of rural areas. When the opportunity arose for the communities that we serve to have
For my masters level graduate studio at K-State, I chose to take the Net + Studio. It was an intriguing aspect for me as it focused on the notion of rural housing in Kansas and how to analyze and approach the situation from an architectural standpoint. Going into the Net+ Studio in the fall of
Across the nation, small rural towns pepper the landscape, and in many cases the first image one sees is of the ‘traditional’ rural downtown. Many main streets of these towns developed quickly, spurred by the railroad cutting a path across the country, but as automobiles became more popular the importance of an established downtown in