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Is modular design the key to solving the housing crisis? An Astoria architect thinks so.

Stuart Emmons, founder and principal of Emmons Design, has focused on modular design for 15 years. He is on a mission to help accelerate affordable housing production.

鈥淚 just realized that the status quo just isn鈥檛 addressing the problem sufficiently,鈥� he said.

Emmons Design, founded in 2012, focuses on modular housing, homeless shelters, and modular housing factory design. Today, Emmons鈥� standardized unit design is influencing modular factories and housing projects across the U.S.

One is the nine-unit Kah San Chako Haws for the Native American Youth and Family Center (NAYA); the project in Southeast Portland was completed in 2012. It was the first modular affordable housing project completed in the Pacific Northwest, according to Emmons Design. Other projects include the Bybee Lakes Hope Center in North Portland in 2020, a transitional housing project in Lincoln City in 2022, and the 42-unit Trillium House Apartments (panelized construction) in Warrenton in 2022.

Ross Cornelius, a former developer now retired, worked as a project manager with Emmons on several projects, including Kah San Chako Haws and Trillium House Apartments. Kah San Chako Haws, which received 70 percent of its funding from the city of Portland, was a demonstration project for modular affordable housing production, he stated in an email. The team explored the concept and potential scalability to reduce construction costs, he added.

鈥淚t was the first affordable housing stacked modular project in the state at three stories,鈥� according to Cornelius.

The breakthrough of Emmons鈥� approach, Cornelius stated, was the standardized unit design. Such units are all designed the same, but allow for exterior changes, such as window configurations, Emmons said.

鈥淲hen translated to conventionally built affordable apartments, standardized unit design results in construction efficiencies and cost savings at the site,鈥� Cornelius stated.

Thanks to a $5 million state grant, Emmons is working with Blazer Industries of Aumsville on designs for some standardized units. Oregon Housing and Community Services (OHCS) awarded the grant through the Modular Housing Development Fund in 2024.聽In partnership with Salem-based Ideabox and Emmons Design, Blazer Industries plans to standardize modular housing designs, improve operations, and invest in technology upgrades at its facility.

Emmons鈥� contributions have included research and design on standardized units. Several specific projects are currently in the research and design phase and will be prototyped. These include the ImHomeToo Apartment.2 design and prototype, and the ImHomeToo Apartment.1 design and seven base modules that can be assembled in a myriad of configurations.

Most of Emmons鈥� recent work addressing homelessness has been in California, he said. He was the modular consulting architect for the San Mateo Navigation Center in Redwood City, California, in 2023. It was a modular housing project intended to serve people experiencing homelessness.

鈥淲ith the grant, I want to bring what I鈥檝e learned in California and Washington and the East Coast into Oregon,鈥� Emmons said.

Emmons has looked at other ideas for housing, such as panelized construction or 3D printing, but keeps coming back to modular. It is volume-metric, and completely built in the factory, minimizing site work.

Jim Gabriel, president and CEO of MODLOGIQ of New Holland, Pennsylvania, stated in an email that Emmons is a hands-on architect who has a unique understanding of how to get the most out of modular construction because he has spent so much time in modular manufacturing plants.

鈥淲hen he visited our plant, he spent time on the plant floor walking through projects to (understand) connection details and how to improve design to accommodate the manufacturing process rather than the reverse,鈥� Gabriel stated. 鈥淲ith respect, very few architects understand the importance of knowing how to design for modular manufacturing, assembly and construction.鈥�

MODLOGIQ worked with Emmons on several projects in the preconstruction stage. They collaborated on projects in Pennsylvania, New Jersey,聽and the New England region.

Some architects and contractors see prefabrication as a threat, while others see it as an opportunity to increase housing production quickly, Emmons said. Tension has always existed between aesthetic design and construction costs, especially in affordable housing, according to Cornelius. Emmons鈥� approach opened the door to a solution that helped reduce production costs without sacrificing design, Cornelius added.

As construction costs rise due to the lack of available skilled labor, the efficiency of modular construction can help reduce those costs and make housing projects financially feasible, according to Gabriel. One of the challenges for new housing projects is the attainment of financing at reasonable market rates. As construction costs and interest rates聽rise, modular construction can provide a way to mitigate such potential roadblocks, he stated.

Emmons gives talks nationally on streamlining and building housing efficiently. He has spoken to developers, government officials, manufacturers, contractors and architects in Portland, Seattle, Las Vegas, Washington, D.C., and elsewhere. His main goal remains getting more housing built, and at this point, he believes modular is the way.

鈥淚 am really looking forward to the next decade and seeing modular really go into a different place,鈥� Emmons said. 鈥淢odular housing has come a long way in the last decade 鈥� and I know modular will become much more prevalent in multifamily housing in the next decade. The ever-expanding need for housing coupled with the increases in time and cost for traditional site-built multifamily housing make it obvious that the housing space is ripe for innovation.鈥�