Vaugruppen : The Missing Model to Missing Middle Housing

The rules have changed, but the culture has not. In 2023, the provincial government introduced sweeping policy reforms to enable multi-unit housing within formerly single-family zones across British Columbia, positioning density as a pathway to affordability. Yet for most residents, housing remains structurally out of reach. This thesis argues that affordability cannot be addressed through form alone, but through a critical examination of the mechanisms that govern housing production within a profit-driven socioeconomic and industrial system. This thesis introduces the Baugruppen model as an alternative to current development practices, in which future residents become active agents in shaping and financing their housing. Through comparative pro formas of a six-unit infill project in Vancouver, this project tests the limits of both the conventional and collective models, revealing that affordability only emerges when multiple systemic constraints are challenged.