Sommer Design Studios

07/30/2026

There is a particular kind of urban lane that you find tucked behind the grand terraces of London — cobbled, narrow, intimate, lined with small buildings that once housed horses and carriages and now house some of the most sought-after addresses in the city. The lane is the mews.

07/25/2026

Consider joining us this fall!

Join The Conversation

This year we’ll be gathering in Clermont, Florida this November 5th - 8th and bringing together designers, developers, and civic leaders committed to shaping enduring, people-centered places.

Through inspiring talks, hands-on workshops, and the celebration of design excellence, the Summit is where ideas are shared, partnerships are formed, and the future of our towns, cities, and villages is imagined.

Registration Link in Comments!

07/21/2026

Same footprint. Same stair. Same units.

Two stories: four homes. Three stories: six homes.

That's the fourplex and the sixplex — and it's the simplest argument for why single-stair reform matters at the scale most people actually live at.

You have almost certainly walked past a fourplex and thought it was a house. The one above sits on a corner in East Beach, the traditional neighborhood in Norfolk where I've done a good deal of work over the years.

07/10/2026

Legacy Project RFP Announcement!
CNU and the Twin Cities’ Local Host Committee (LHC) for invite municipalities, community-based non-profits, neighborhood organizations and other interested parties to apply for low-cost technical assistance from leading national urban design firms. Design workshops will bring over $150,000 in pro-bono design assistance to address local issues related to the mission of CNU. Final participants will be selected based on need and readiness to implement short-term strategies from the workshop.
Apply by 9/4/2026, see other important dates and learn more at https://www.cnu.org/jobs-rfps/2026/07/2027-legacy-projects.

07/10/2026

The Urban Guild Awards deadline has been extended! You now have until Friday, July 17th to submit your designs. Award categories include Design Excellence, Design Exploration, and Student Work. To be considered for any award, submittals must be complete and follow the procedure outlined on the website.

Submit Your Project Today. 🔗👇

07/02/2026

The movement has been heavily influenced by art, as Volume 2 of The Art of the New Urbanism makes clear.

07/02/2026

Looking for some outside feed back on a project take advantage of this time with Sara!

06/26/2026

06/10/2026

Most people can tell the difference between a neighborhood they love and one they don't, very few can tell you why.
I've been writing about housing policy and building codes lately — the technical stuff. But today I want to talk about something more fundamental: a building type that America perfected before 1940, forgot about for seventy years, and is finally starting to rediscover, The cottage court, and why it's one of the most powerful ideas in housing that almost nobody is building.

I’ve been writing about single-stair reform and federal housing legislation for the past couple weeks. The response has been great — architects, developers, planners, policy people.

06/04/2026

The Senate just passed the ROAD Act.
I wrote last week about what happens next — the HUD rulemaking, the code question nobody is asking, and what architects and developers need to do in the next 90 days.
That article just went from “likely” to “now.”

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/road-act-become-law-jeremy-sommer-aia-cnu-a-leed-ap-liyse/

Here’s What Happens Next. UPDATE — June 4, 2026: The Senate passed the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act today.