This Next Gen episode features Kara Haggerty Wilson of Onion Flats Architecture. Kara highlights key design elements and addresses how each was curated to achieve Front Flats, an Onion Flats-designed, built, and developed high-performance, net-zero urban-sited building in Philadelphia. Many qualities of high-performance buildings push the limits of typical design and often require a delicate balance to capture efficiencies. This presentation provides insights on when to minimize or maximize certain factors and emphasizes the critical role of balance in multifamily, high-performance, high-density projects.

Kara Haggerty Wilson is a Philadelphia-based architect and passive house consultant at Onion Flats Architecture. Since joining Onion Flats in 2017, her experience at the firm has shifted from the architect as developer and builder model to a renewed focus on designing and consulting on client-based high-performance projects, with a specific interest in deep energy retrofits along the east coast and beyond.