Partners for Livable Omaha invites you to follow OurStory as we work with a multidisciplinary team of professionals, academics, and architecture students to create new design solutions for existing and emerging small home developers creating infill housing and accessory dwellings in the Omaha metro and beyond.
Whether you're building for a loved one, or building for the love of your community, this collaborative design process and lessons learned will empower you to take action.
How do we want to live as we age?
OurStory is a prototype aging-ready small home for Omaha that seeks affordability at the intersection of design, finance, and policy. Designed by the UNL College of Architecture’s FACT studio and led by Partners for Livable Omaha, OurStory fills a gap in the local market for small house designs that are constructible, financeable, environmentally sustainable, and empowering. OurStory designs can function as standalone small homes, accessory dwelling units to existing homes, or as part of dense cottage courts and cluster communities using community land trusts or other innovative land tenancy regimes.
The all-electric, space-efficient concept is rooted in universal design and features structural insulated panels (exterior walls and roof), heat pumps, and prefabricated components to reduce construction time, boost building energy efficiency, and realize affordability.
Shown below are the first two variations known as Corby & Benson to be constructed in 2025 by a team of professionals led by Partners for Livable Omaha.
Learn more about our design process, view site plans and additional images at www.factlab.org
Please take a few minutes to complete this anonymous survey to give your feedback on the OurStory house designs and our upcoming development project in the Benson neighborhood in Omaha.
Upcoming Events
Jeff Day of Actual Architecture Co. and UNL College of Architecture and Jessica Scheuerman of Partners for Livable Omaha will deliver a keynote lecture “OurStory: creating aging-ready housing” at the 2025 AIA Nebraska Mid-Year Symposium. The talk is scheduled for Thursday, April 24, 10:30 am at the Younes Conference Center North, 07 Talmadge St, Kearney, Nebraska. Visit https://ow.ly/aS8V50Vazj3 for details and registration.
The talk responds to the question, “how do we want to live as we age?” with OurStory, a prototype middle-income, aging-ready small home for Omaha that approaches affordability at the intersection of design, finance, and policy. Designed by FACT and led by Partners for Livable Omaha, OurStory fills a gap in the local market for small house and ADU designs that are versatile, quicker to construct, energy-efficient, climate-resilient, environmentally responsible, maintenance-free, and empowering.
Jeff Day of Actual Architecture Co. and UNL College of Architecture, joined by Jessica Scheuerman of Partners for Livable Omaha and Matthew Cavanaugh of Holy Name Housing Corporation will deliver a breakfast keynote lecture “OurStory: creating aging-ready housing.” Join us at the 2025 Nebraska Investment Finance Authority Innovation Expo, Nebraska’s premier conference on affordable housing and community development. The talk is scheduled for Thursday, April 30, 8 am at Embassy Suites Lincoln, Nebraska. Visit www.nifa.org for details and registration.
The talk responds to the question, “how do we want to live as we age?” with OurStory, a prototype middle-income, aging-ready small home for Omaha that approaches affordability at the intersection of design, finance, and policy. Designed by FACT and led by Partners for Livable Omaha, OurStory fills a gap in the local market for small house and ADU designs that are versatile, quicker to construct, energy-efficient, climate-resilient, environmentally responsible, maintenance-free, and empowering.
News
Past Events
OurStory exhibition
Dec. 16, 2024 - Jan. 10, 2025
Dundee Bank’s Benson Branch, 6073 Maple St.
The “OurStory: Creating Aging-Ready Housing” exhibition by the University of Nebraska College of Architecture’s FACT Studio, runs December 16 through January 10 at Dundee Bank’s Benson Branch at 6073 Maple Street in Omaha. “OurStory” takes aim at the housing crisis and silver tsunami with a new concept for infill housing and accessory dwellings in the Omaha metro and beyond.