Enable Missing Middle Housing in Your Town

Opticos principal Daniel Parolek inspired a new movement for housing choice in 2010 when he introduced the concept of the “missing middle” in American housing. Missing Middle Housing is a transformative concept that highlights the need for diverse, affordable housing choices in sustainable, walkable places.   Since then, Opticos has worked with communities across the country to navigate the process of analyzing local codes, clearly identifying barriers, and developing solutions to enable Missing Middle Housing.   Based on that work, we are excited to announce three new service packages.  Download an overview of these new packages designed to Enable Missing Middle Housing in Your Town.

Rebuilding for Those in Need: Opticos Designs for Wildfire Cottage Initiative

In October of 2017, wildfires in Northern California burned at least 245,000 acres and over 5,000 acres in Sonoma County alone. Since then, Habitat for Humanity of Sonoma County has explored ways to expand its programs across the board to serve households displaced by October’s devastating wildfires, including its latest initiative: the Sonoma Wildfire Cottages.   Opticos is proud to be part of the team, led by Marianne Cusato, renowned designer of the Katrina Cottage, and the Cypress Community Development Corporation selected by Sonoma Habitat, to design and build a series of model cottages on the Fountaingrove campus of Medtronic in Santa Rosa, California.

Why Form and Scale Matter in the Missing Middle Housing Conversation

Lately, we’ve noticed people using the term “Missing Middle Housing” solely in an economic sense, to refer to the lack of attainable housing for middle income households. And while Missing Middle Housing is an excellent solution for middle income households, form, scale and context are also critical attributes. So, why do these matter?

Designing a Missing Middle Plan for Small Infill Sites: The Art of Creating Value and a Sense of Place on a Two-to-Five Acre Site, Part 2

In our previous post showing how we design Missing Middle Housing for small sites, we reviewed some initial steps, including conceptual studies for a small site master plan in Novato, California. Now, we’re going to look at the steps we took to refine the preferred alternative into something ready for entitlement.

“Making Room” and Constructing Change with the National Building Museum

Opticos Design is honored to have partnered with the National Building Museum and Metcalfe Architecture & Design to utilize our housing expertise, particularly at the Missing Middle Housing scale, to design an interactive element of a timely new exhibit, “Making Room: Housing for a Changing America,” on view now at the National Building Museum through September 2018.