The Evolution of Efficient Architecture: Takeaways from the 2026 Florida Housing Coalition REPAIR Conference
The challenge of delivering more attainable housing rarely comes down to a single decision. Zoning, land availability, infrastructure, construction costs, insurance, energy use, and long-term maintenance influence whether a housing opportunity can move forward and remain viable over time.
For architects and developers, the earliest stages of a project are increasingly important. Before design begins, understanding what a site can support and where potential obstacles may emerge can help determine a project's viability and where adjustments are needed.
Those conversations were central to the Florida Housing Coalition REPAIR Conference 2026, held August 24-25 in Orlando. FK Architecture Managing Principal Ken Linehan, AIA, participated as a panelist for Prototyping the Missing Middle: Discussions about Opportunities and Obstacles. The group explored approaches for expanding housing options that fall between traditional single-family homes and larger multifamily developments.
The conference itself centered on six housing goals: reachable, equitable, permanently affordable, available, innovative, and resilient. Across those priorities, one theme stood out for Ken: creating more housing requires looking at the entire development equation earlier.
Start With Feasibility
A site may appear promising until zoning limits density, infrastructure requirements affect costs, or a building configuration reduces the number of viable units. Identifying those considerations before significant time and money are invested helps developers better understand a site's potential and reduces the likelihood of redesign or unexpected challenges later.
At FK, this process begins before the first sketch. Early site analysis examines zoning, ecological conditions, local requirements, and other site-specific considerations to help clients understand the opportunities and constraints associated with development.
That early analysis creates an opportunity to think differently about efficiency as a design decision.
Efficiency as a Design Decision
Small improvements in unit yield, net-to-gross efficiency, parking, building configuration, repetitive construction, and constructability can have a meaningful impact when applied across an entire development. For affordable and workforce housing in particular, those decisions can influence whether a project ultimately works financially while still supporting quality housing and the resident experience.
The need for that flexibility is growing as housing models evolve. Missing middle housing, build-to-rent, workforce housing, infill development, mixed-income communities, and public-private partnerships are expanding the range of approaches available to communities and developers. They also challenge project teams to think beyond a single multifamily model.
Repeatable housing solutions can be part of that response. Rather than starting from zero for every opportunity, adaptable prototypes can provide a foundation that responds to different sites and local requirements while improving efficiency and creating greater predictability in the development process.
Looking Beyond Construction Costs
The economics of housing extends well beyond what it costs to build.
In Florida, for example, insurance, energy consumption, maintenance, durability, resiliency, and replacement costs increasingly affect a property's long-term performance. Design decisions that reduce operating demands or improve durability can therefore become part of the affordability conversation. Resilience is not only about how a building responds to environmental conditions. It can also affect what that building costs to own and operate over time.
Taken together, these considerations point to a broader role for architects in addressing housing needs. The opportunity is much more than designing a building once a development plan has been established. Rather, architects can contribute during site feasibility, entitlement, and development strategy, helping clients understand how design decisions interact with construction, regulatory, and financial constraints.
The conversations at the REPAIR Conference reinforced an approach already shaping FK’s affordable workforce, and multifamily housing work: help clients determine how to make the housing opportunity work in the first place.
As Florida communities continue looking for ways to expand housing supply, solutions will depend on more than any one housing type or design strategy. Earlier analysis, efficient planning, adaptable housing models, and a clearer understanding of long-term costs can give developers and communities more tools to move housing opportunities forward.