Upon the beginning of construction of Heritage Village, the new town built around the Arkansas Colleges of Health Education (ACHE), builder Rick Mooney hired MWA to refine a portion of the plan to accommodate primarily student housing.  Mooney expressed a strong interest in creating a place suitable for students to spend their free time, while being within walking distance of classes.  MWA refined the plan for the first phase in 2018.   

MWA proposed a cottage court of seventeen houses oriented toward a central green, with small cottages facing paths that connect the green to blocks in future phases.  MWA worked with Moser Design Group, who designed the houses, to carefully craft the shape of the space and maximize the sense of place within it.  The cottage sizes range from 675-1,830 S.F., offering a variety of living arrangements, with each unit having access to the central green, or one of the two small courts that extend behind the green.  Six different house plans were used, and MWA prepared a block-face elevation to determine which houses were next to one another.  Particular attention was given to the corner lots where wrap-around porches were employed to give the house a presence on the green and the adjacent street. 

Construction of the Cottage Court is now complete.  The elegance of this phase is just as remarkable as the uniqueness of the business model from a market and housing-type standpoint.  The houses were all built as rental properties to serve the students and faculty at ACHE.  They are in stark contrast to the large conventional apartment complexes typically used for student housing.  The project’s success led to the ground-breaking of a second Cottage Court shortly after.