About

Omaha by Design is inviting all interested designers to take part in a duplex design competition starting in July 2024. The competition asks participants to imagine and design duplexes that are affordable, age-friendly and attainable.

The overall goal of the Duplex by Design competition is to improve housing options for older adults in Omaha. The competition can help increase the supply of suitable aging-in-place housing by creating more affordable and convenient living options for seniors. These options should promote health and greater autonomy compared to many of the traditional housing options currently available to Omaha's aging adults, allowing them to age in place and remain in their communities.

​

Why Duplexes?

Our neighborhoods need more diverse housing types to accommodate the needs of residents at every stage of life and income level. Missing Middle Housing (MMH) – small multi-unit housing types that are similar in scale to a single-family home – can help provide this diversity. And duplexes are the perfect entry point to building more MMH. Duplexes face fewer regulatory hurdles than other MMH typologies, are simple to construct, and can fit into standard single-family lots.

​

This competition has these key objectives.
 

1. Generate Designs: Create a handful of attractive, attainable, buildable duplex plans with essential universal and age-friendly design elements.
   The winning designs will be incorporated into a new chapter of Omaha by Design’s Affordable by Design Playbook.

2. Raise Awareness: Public outreach and competition promotion will highlight how universal and age-friendly MMH address housing challenges faced by older adults, particularly those with modest finances or past housing inequities. Concurrent educational efforts will teach key stakeholders the specifics of this competition's universal and age-friendly design criteria.

Omaha by Design is facilitating the competition with professional assistance from the RL Mace Universal Design Institute and funding from an AARP Community Challenge grant.

​

Competition Registration Open July 25 – September 16, 2024

(no fee to register)

​

Download the Competition Guide and Register!

​