Awards American Institute of Architects - Housing and Community Design

Dorchester Art + Housing Collaborative: Chicago, Illinois

Dorchester Art + Housing Collaborative (DA+HC) is a 32-unit, mixed-use housing development that includes a vibrant arts and cultural hub for Chicago’s Greater Grand Crossing neighborhood. The project embodies a successful collaboration between private, public, and nonprofit sectors committed to transforming the Greater Grand Crossing neighborhood through the redevelopment of the Dante Harper townhouses, which were built by the Chicago Housing Authority in the early 1980s and vacated in 2007. The redevelopment involved renovating 32 of Dante Harper’s original 36 two- and three-bedroom townhouse units, including converting 4 of those units to flat configurations for accessibility compliance, and removing the four center units to create a 2,200-square-foot Arts Center complete with a dance studio, work and tech shops, and public meeting space. Financing for the redevelopment included Low Income Housing Tax Credits, state Donation Tax Credits, a Chicago Housing Authority loan, and a grant from the Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago.

DA+HC’s housing units now contain an even distribution of low-income, affordable, and market-rate units, and 72 percent of the occupants in DA+HC’s housing are at or below 80 percent of the area median income. To foster dialogue and collaboration between artists and community members, DA+HC is the first in the nation to provide artist residences in public housing. The artists living onsite volunteer their time to develop programming and catalyze neighborhood revitalization through artistic practice, individual empowerment, and community engagement. The Arts Center and adjacent landscaped courtyard now function as a community hub and support a variety of programs.

Lakeside Senior Apartments: Oakland, California

Located in a prime neighborhood on the banks of Oakland’s Lake Merritt, Lakeside Senior Apartments are home to 91 very low-income and special-needs seniors experiencing homelessness, many of whom have been displaced with the Bay Area’s rapidly rising housing costs. The development is designed to support independent living through the provision of extensive onsite services, access to amenities such as a pharmacy and grocery, and strong transit connections to downtown Oakland and San Francisco.

In addition to housing and services, the Lakeside Senior Apartments development provides indoor and outdoor community spaces at both the ground floor and upper levels. The ground-floor community room includes a kitchen and TV lounge as well as space for activities, including art programs and monthly resident town hall meetings. This community space opens widely to the courtyard, creating a flexible indoor-outdoor plaza. The private space offers views to the neighborhood and is visible to passersby, balancing security and transparency and connecting the building to the life of the larger neighborhood. The two building masses on the property connect across the courtyard at the upper levels via sunny bridges with neighborhood and lake views. A fifth-floor suite of community spaces includes rooftop garden plots for residents, a community room and kitchen, outdoor decks, and a wellness studio. Designed with a complementary series of sustainable strategies, the building is pending receipt of LEED for Homes Mid-Rise Platinum Certification.

Port Townsend Residence: Port Townsend, Washington

Port Townsend Residence is a modest home on level lot in a small community arranged around a common garden space which was built to accommodate a couple, one of whom uses a power wheelchair. The house offers an accessible route from the street through the house to the terrace and to the common garden space, thus expanding the effective living space and facilitating daily strolls in the neighborhood. An open plan facilitates circulation of a power wheel chair within a modest footprint. The telescoping doors to the bedrooms allow the owners choice in how to use the rooms and how connected they are to the living spaces. To facilitate use with limited dexterity, pocket doors have large panel-mounted handles, which do not disappear entirely into the wall. The entry door and sidelight feature vertical glazing to allow viewing of the external approach from any height.

The kitchen can be used from both a standing position and from a wheelchair; knee space is provided beneath the sink, and base cabinets fitted with drawers and a floor-to-ceiling cupboard maximize shelving within the reach range of a wheelchair user. In the kitchen, a wall oven and a wall-mounted microwave oven keep the oven racks within the proper reach range, and a pot filler faucet on the cooktop reduces the need to carry heavy pots. The bathrooms have knee space beneath the vanity, and they feature a threshold-free shower with a linear drain and a universal height toilet that serves both users. Additionally, the bathrooms’ towel bars and the adjustable shower head bar are built and anchored as grab bars, so that any of them can be relied upon in a fall.