CATFIDDLE STREET
The story of Catfiddle Street is the story of how a small empty corner of once-densely populated neighborhood in Charleston, South Carolina was repopulated with a traditional yet unexpected infill development. The project was founded in 2013 when several vacant adjoining parcels and tiny fragments of private backyards were pieced together by a group of partners led by Reid Burgess. The vision for the property and land plan was designed by George Holt and Reid Burgess of Urban Ergonomics.
The layout was organic. Buildings were built right up to (and sometimes above) the street, allowing the houses themselves to take on slightly uneven angles as they accommodated the curved shape of the street. As opposed to a typical city row or lane which form a rigid passage, the street intertwined with the architecture, and private space was intertwined with public space. The open areas between buildings would be owned and maintained by the households, and the road itself a place to stay, not just a place to pass through.
Antique street bricks were used to pave the road and common areas. Heavy building materials were selected for their longevity and ability to withstand extreme climate, natural disasters and traffic, while taking advantage of thermal mass to reduce energy usage. In contrast to most contemporary constructions where time is normally the enemy, it was expected from the outset that the houses on Catfiddle Street would assume a painterly romance and a natural earthy quality which should invite a patina that intensifies and improves over time. Houses were shaped to provide the most thermal comfort with the least amount of mechanical assistance.
Around 2016 some nearby neighbors started thinking it might be mutually beneficial if Reid would allow them to officially join Catfiddle Street by attaching their property to the project. It was decided these annexations could be a good idea but only if any new construction or changes to existing houses met Catfiddle’s architectural standards, and that Urban Ergonomics be a part of the design process with final design approval. The additional properties were incorporated and the size of Catfiddle Street grew to just under one acre. All of the new architecture was intentionally designed with different designers in collaboration with Urban Ergonomics to ensure that each building look distinct but still be consistent with the overall feeling of Catfiddle Street. One house would include an arch for cars to drive through, making Catfiddle the only street in Charleston to literally run directly underneath a house.
With Urban Ergonomics, other architectural designers to collaborate on houses include:
Liberatos Architects
Randolph Martz Architect
American Vernacular
New World Byzantine
Tom Henry Design Company
Craft Design Group