Just outside the city limits of Charlottesville lies a six and one half acre parcel of land at 480 Rio Rd East that most developers have overlooked as too challenging for the current housing market. Its gentle south-facing slope and its existing structures make it the perfect place for something a bit different. See http://ecovillagecharlottesville.org/ for more information.
The concept for the physical form of the community is a cluster of compact dwellings around the existing historic house that will be re-purposed as a common house. Most of the existing forest is to be left undeveloped and restored to health. The dwellings are to be designed with the utmost care for energy efficiency, embodied energy, function and beauty as well as with the idea that the residents want to interact with each other and are enriched by it.
These are some old plans for the buildings of Ecovillage Charlottesville designed in collaboration with Øesch Environmental Design featuring compact, energy efficient living spaces in the form of flats and townhouses incorporating livability, natural light, privacy, energy efficiency, and functionality as well as a large indoor/outdoor dining area and shared kitchen on the rooftop. Due to many factors this is no longer the direction of the community, please see The Ecovillage Charlottesville website for the most up to date information
You can view a PDF of the latest in-progress drawings here
And of course, here are some renderings:
The Housing Lab 