L'Avenir Townhome

L’Avenir Townhomes a three story, four unit townhome style condominium project designed and modeled to surpass Net Zero Energy in Old Town Fort Collins, Colorado.  The site is a small, non-conforming, 4,600 sf vacant urban infill lot that was formerly an auto garage in the 1970’s.  Two orphan petroleum tanks were successfully removed and the site mitigated before construction began in 2019. L’Avenir, which means “the Future” in French, was born because architecture can and should be regenerative.  Buildings that are carefully sited and crafted with long lasting, durable and low-maintenance materials, have a positive impact on the community. Buildings that have flexible components that allow for adaptive reuse and energy independence will be conserved, not demolished in 30 years.  Energy independent buildings are life affirming and also makes a positive impact on the community.  In turn, those qualities make the building resilient; able to provide security and comfort even in extreme catastrophic events, including weather or global pandemics. 

This submittal is for Unit A, the first L’Avenir Townhome to be LEED certified in November of 2020.  (All others have subsequently been certified this year, in 2021.)  Unit A is unique because it also includes a 9.3 kW battery for resilience.

The guiding goals for L’Avenir are a building that:

1. Produces its own energy on-site with carbon-free resources.
2. Provides for flexibility in lifestyle by designing the first floor as a Flex Space for live-work opportunities.
3. Promotes a healthy and carbon free lifestyle of walking and biking, including the shared use of a HOA owned E-Bike and an Electric Vehicle for owners.

L’Avenir is an illustration of healthy downtown living powered by clean energy.  It has achieved LEED Platinum certification, has HERS scores of -5 and -2 and is EPA Indoor airPLUS and WaterSense certified. The townhome’s southern orientation, tall ceilings and high windows provide ample daylight. The double-insulated building envelope contains rock wool insulation making the townhome feel comfortable in winter and summer. Two geothermal wells per unit and 7.3 kW of solar photovoltaics panels per unit power the building exclusively on renewable and carbon-free resources. Finishes and products are free of, or contain very little, VOCs and the units are EPA Indoor airPLUS qualified, leading to interior spaces that are fresh, open, light, and healthy.  In addition, 2% of the site of L’Avenir is planted with an edible agriculture---a 90’ long grape trellis for the owners pleasure.

L’Avenir’s first floor, typically a garage in a townhome, is deemed Flex Space – it’s completely insulated and conditioned with the ability to be a space for car storage, a studio/home office, family, or guest room. To encourage the occupants to adopt a human-powered lifestyle, there is covered bike storage, a shared electric vehicle, a dedicated parking space in the nearby public garage, and two transit passes per home.