Outpost Office Wins Small Lots, Big Impacts Competition with "Growing Together"
Outpost Office, the collaborative design practice led by Ashley Bigham (‘21) and Erik Herrmann (‘19, ‘25) in Columbus, OH, has been named a winner in the "Gentle Density" category of the Small Lots, Big Impacts competition. Organized by cityLAB at UCLA, the initiative reimagines LA’s overlooked city-owned parcels as vibrant, attainable housing solutions. Their proposal, Growing Together, not only stood out for its architectural clarity and buildability, but for the way it harmonized individual privacy with shared community life, a hallmark of Outpost Office’s thoughtful design ethos.
(Shawn Poynter photo)
But the roots of Growing Together go deeper. The project took shape during Herrmann’s recent residency at MacDowell, where Heinz Studio became both a workshop and incubator for architectural imagination. “Freedom to create is the mantra, and it is genuinely the case,” Herrmann shared. “Time and space are the apparent features of MacDowell, but it is the community of artists, staff, and caretakers that makes it special. This support let me work fearlessly.”
The competition’s theme—gentle density in residential neighborhoods—resonated immediately with the Outpost Office team, who recognized parallels between the challenge facing Los Angeles and their own city of Columbus. Though the practice rarely enters competitions, this one was different. “It was well-organized and sought real, buildable solutions to the housing crisis,” they explain. “We admired the cityLAB team for their mix of analytical and design-based approaches.”
At MacDowell, Herrmann worked in an analog, hands-on fashion, away from screens and digital renderings. “We explored the use of color to mediate between the scale of the overall development and the individual housing units. The model housed up to four families but appeared as one cohesive building. Having the space and natural light to explore this in real time was invaluable.”
This project was developed primarily during Erik's 2025 residency, where he worked in Heinz Studio, which is equipped with basic welding and fabrication tools.
Beyond form and color, Growing Together also carries a deeper conceptual underpinning: timefulness, a term Outpost Office has explored in their recent work. “We’re interested in how buildings evolve over time—from construction through use and eventual transformation. This project let us explore a fabric of architecture that can expand or contract with shifting needs—ideal for multigenerational living and chosen families.”
Winning this competition is a pivotal step in the realization of Outpost Office’s broader goals. “We’re deeply honored. The competition is rooted in the belief that good ideas deserve to be built. We hope this remains a possibility."
As the team advances to Phase 2, the focus now shifts to expanding the dialogue. This next phase will bring in a broader group of stakeholders, including city officials, developers, and additional architects, to build upon the foundational ideas already in place. Meanwhile, Herrmann, recently returned from a residency at MacDowell, reflects on the lasting impact of that experience: “Having only just departed, I’m doing my best to transition away. But the recognition we’ve received makes it clear—something special happened in that studio.”
"Time and space are the apparent features of MacDowell, but it is the community of artists, staff, and caretakers that makes it special. This support let me work fearlessly." - Erik Herrmann