A small co‑living residence inserted into a wooded triangle along Bozeman’s Galligator Trail — composed by the trees rather than by an imposed geometry.
The Galligator Trail in Bozeman, Montana is more than a pedestrian route — it is a civic and ecological corridor woven into the town’s identity, connecting history, public space, and landscape. Stretching over 1.5 miles from the Bozeman Public Library to Kagy Boulevard, the trail passes through a series of parks and wooded clearings along Bozeman Creek.
The Footpath Home proposes a small‑scale co‑living residence inserted into a triangular, wooded site where the Galligator Trail crosses two tributaries of the creek. The project seeks to insert housing without disrupting the existing forest conditions, treating the site as an active spatial framework rather than a blank ground. By preserving all existing trees and occupying only natural clearings, the architecture is shaped by the landscape itself — resulting in a dispersed residential composition connected by footpaths that blur the boundary between dwelling, trail, and forest.
The design process for Footpath Home was driven by direct engagement with the site through hand drawing and physical modeling. Early sectional drawings were used to understand topography, tree density, and moments of clearance within the wooded terrain. These studies shifted the project away from a single building object toward a spatial sequence embedded within the landscape.
A series of iterative physical models culminated in a site model that foregrounded the trees as primary architectural constraints. Within this model, conceptual lines were drawn through the forest to establish reference paths and sightlines already latent in the site. These lines informed the placement, orientation, and separation of programmatic elements, allowing the architecture to emerge from existing spatial conditions rather than imposed geometry.
1. Pavilion. The pavilion serves as the public threshold of the project, mediating between the Galligator Trail and the residential spaces beyond. Positioned directly along the trail, it frames entry into the site and provides a sheltered gathering space for trail users.
2. Café. Adjacent to the pavilion, the café is a public‑facing program that supports the daily activity of the trail. Its placement reinforces the project’s role as a social and civic extension of the Galligator Trail while activating the site throughout the day.
3. Dwelling. The residential component consists of four two‑person co‑living units accommodating eight residents. Private bedroom and bathroom units are organized along a linear concrete plane, while shared living and kitchen spaces are embedded deeper within the trees. The primary residential entrance is located at the northeast corner of the site, closest to the trail, reinforcing pedestrian access and minimizing disruption to the forest floor.