IMAGINE VILLAGE APARTMENTS

An affordable housing community of 76 units for veterans and families, this project also provides an adoption/foster center, as well as support services, community areas and extensive landscaping. Part of a larger complex of non-profit companies, it is designed with the environment in mind. Utilizing the vast site, a balance of density and open space was achieved by programming multiple buildings with resident and unit type. Landscaping was used to create unobtrusive privacy and security for the distinct and diverse populations occupying the site.

Overcoming the challenge to safely and sensitively house the two distinct resident types – families and veterans – was achieved through careful architectural moves. The 30 veterans’ studio apartments sit on top of the Penny Lane offices in the north wing and feature their own entry at the east with a small community room, service office and gym. The 45 low-income families are grouped by units, with one-bedroom, two-bedrooms and three-bedrooms units each inhabiting their own wing, all of which cradle an expansive garden and playground area to the south. The entry for the families is on the west side of the site with a large community room.

To deal with a desert climate as disparate as the population, a novel approach to shading the south façade was completed with thermal wood. The custom-designed screen of wood dances along the corridors, providing relief from the summer heat and privacy to the apartment windows and doors. In the southern garden, a large mound and trees serve as both a windbreak and beloved play feature. In respect to the natural surrounds, the colors of the buildings reflect the desert’s colorful ground and sky. These features, along with others such as installing one of the first two combined greywater/stormwater systems in Los Angeles County (both done by BDG), earned the building LEED Gold status.