Name: ______

Lesson 9: Habitat for Humanity Project

Journey to Careers

Project Overview

You will create a single family dwelling that can be built by Habitat for Humanity. This means that while it should be nice, there should be few frills. It will be your job to draw, model, and present your design to the client. You will be working with a design team of two to three architects.

Project Guidelines

The house should be approximately 1,320 square feet, which is the size of a standard 8.5” by 11” sheet of paper if you use a scale of 0.25 inches to 1 foot. It should include 3 bedrooms, a kitchen, a living area, 1 to 1.5 bathrooms, and a laundry area. The bedrooms should be in a space large enough to accommodate a bed and dresser. The kitchen must be able to accommodate a refrigerator, sink, oven, and walking and storage space. The living area must be able to accommodate a seating area and walking space. The bathrooms must have enough room for a sink, bathtub, and toilet. The laundry area must be large enough for a washer and dryer. Remember each square is the equivalent of 1 foot.

  • Walls should be 1 square thick.
  • Hallways should be 3 squares wide.
  • Doors should be 3 squares wide.
  • Windows should be 3 squares wide.
  • Each house must have 2 exterior doors.
  • Each bedroom must have a closet.

Your design must be approved by the client (the teacher) before beginning the construction phase.

Project Steps

  1. Design the floor plan on graph paper. Have it approved.
  2. Glue the floor plan to a piece of cardboard. Mark the length of three out of tour of the exterior walls, cute, and glue them in place one at a time.

  1. Cut and paste the interior walls and finally the last exterior wall.

  1. Create two pieces of 2” cardboard that are the exact length of the short side of the house. Mark the middle on one edge of each piece. Draw a line from that mark to each corner and cut along that line to create your roof trusses. Laminate this piece on top of the exterior wall.

  1. Cut a piece of poster board 12” long and wide enough to cover the roof trusses you created. Fold the poster board in half and lay it on top of the model. Do not glue it in place, so that you can still see the interior by lifting the poster board.
  2. Cut doors and windows into the model if time allows.
  3. To cut a window: Measure up ½” and draw a horizontal line. This line is the bottom of the window. Measure up ¾” from the bottom of the window and draw a horizontal line. This line is the top of the window. Draw a vertical line at each edge of the window as marked on the floor plan. Cut out the rectangle that was drawn.
  4. To cut a door: Measure down ¼” and draw a line. This is the top of the door frame. Draw vertical lines at each edge of the door as marked on the floor plan. Cut all of the way through the top and one side of the door. Cut ½” way through the other side of the door. This should create a door that swings.
  5. Prepare a 2-3 minute presentation of your design to the client, highlighting the features of the house as well as careers that would be involved in making the house.