Howell Street residents in the Black Rock neighborhood of Buffalo first began noticing the renovations of the 600-square-foot, 1850’s brick house several months ago.

The refurbishment of 139 Howell St. is no ordinary modernization. The graduate degree of four University at Buffalo architecture graduate students depends on it.

The foursome wanted to test their architectural design on a city house for their master’s thesis. Ernest Ng, 29, said the group first thought of the idea over a year ago.

“We’re trying to bring a very academic exercise into the community,” Ng said.

Another group member, Paul Dudkowski, 23, said they wanted to complete their project in one of the city’s vacant homes.

“We’re taking a house that might have been demolished in a year and trying to make it work still,” he said.

Mehrdad Hadighi, chairman of the architecture department, said he has never seen a project like the house on Howell Street. To his knowledge, it is the first UB master’s architecture thesis where students followed through with a design plan by buying and refurbishing an actual house.

He said most students research extensively and then write a paper or submit a design plan. The faculty has been supportive of the students’ idea to take the thesis to the next level.

“These four guys did all the legwork,” he said.

The students purchased the cottage- like house for $6,500 at a city auction last fall, and in total are spending $32,000 on the project. They gutted the interior and walls, removed a 100-year-old addition and began implementing their ideas.

Hadighi said that the project is testament to the growing presence of UB within the city of Buffalo.

“It’s a fantastic learning environment and it’s engaging some very positive outcomes,” he said.

Their thesis, known as “Quad Space,” attempts to show how four people can live comfortably in a tight space while maintaining some privacy. Four 7-by-7-by-6 foot wooden cubes, jutting out of each side of the house, will act as private bedrooms for each of the four residents. The house will also have a kitchen and living room as a common area. Dudkowski said the project is meant to show that Americans do not need to live in large spaces in order to co-exist, and that aging urban spaces can be rehabilitated.

Michael Bailie, 23, and Dan Stripp, 24, said planning the design and executing it turned out to be two different things.

The design had to be altered in order to comply with city codes, he said. Also, living in such a confined space means furnishing it appropriately, too.

“You cannot just go to IKEA and buy a big sofa,” Bailie said. “It would not fit in our living room.”

They are not sure if, or how, they will see a return on their investment. Some of them are considering living in the house. They are also looking into whether it could be potential student housing for Buffalo State College, or as a space where out-of-town architecture professors can stay when they are visiting UB. The group expects to finish their project by the end of the summer.

The project received donations from Alp Steel, John W. Danforth Co. and CIR Electrical. Gary Hydock of GCS Radiant said the radiant floor heating panels, which came to the students at a discounted price from his company, will reduce home heating costs by about 75 percent.

The house has become the talk of the block. Bonnie Pendergast has lived down the street for the last nine years. She watched the house become vacant, but has witnessed its rebirth on her regular walks down the street.

“I felt bad because the house was crumbling,” she said. “I’m excited to see the finished product.”

Dudkowski said the group has gained a reputation on campus.

“Some call us the Quad Squad,” he said.