Isla Intersections

Project Details

Project Description

This project was selected as an Honor winner in the 2024 Residential Architect Design Awards, Affordable Housing category.

“This project stood out because there was a sensibility in terms of materiality, composition, and volumetrics. But it also seemed like it was trying to do something else and that something else seemed to be about addressing environmental issues and creating beautiful places to be within this community. It just made me feel like I wanted to be there.” —Juror Rene Gonzalez

A collaboration with nonprofit developer Holos Communities, this 35,000-square-foot project comprises 54 affordable housing units and an adjacent paseo on a pie-shaped site near one of Los Angeles’s busiest freeway interchanges. The complex is arranged as 16 staggered towers formed by stacking the units, the latter of which are constructed with recycled steel containers welded together to provide each unit with 480 square feet. With such a compact footprint, the units are efficient with open-plan layouts featuring ADA kitchens.

Fostering a sense of community, the towers are connected by a series of exterior walkways and are situated along the pie-shaped edge of the site, enclosing areas to form pocket parks for the residents. While some of the rooftops are furnished for lounging, some are intended to become farms and edible gardens, creating the opportunity to join a larger network of urban farms in this area. The pedestrian-friendly paseo runs between the complex and a stretch of freeway interchange, acting as a barrier of sorts: Designed to be a “living lung,” it’s landscaped with trees, shrubs, and vines chosen for their ability to clean the air to help filter diesel particulates and air pollutants that may waft over from the freeway.

PROJECT CREDITS:
Project Name: Isla Intersections Supportive Housing & Paseo
Architect: Lorcan O’Herlihy Architects
Location: Los Angeles

Photo Credit: Eric Staudenmaier