February 2009
In this Issue
Preserving a Piece of History
Sharing the Risks and Rewards of Homeownership
Excelling in Housing and Community Design
Housing Counseling with HUD Support
In the next issue of ResearchWorks
Excelling in Housing and Community Design
Good design is a cornerstone of solid homes and thriving communities, regardless of residents' income levels and backgrounds. The Housing and Custom Residential Committee Knowledge Community of the American Institute of Architects, in conjunction with the Office of the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, recognizes excellence in affordable housing, community-based design, participatory design, and accessibility with four annual awards. The awards not only demonstrate that design matters, they highlight important benchmarks in the housing industry. The four 2008 award winners also embrace and demonstrate the revitalizing potential of mixed-use and mixed-income housing developments.
Community-Informed Design Award
Greenbridge in White Center, Washington, received the Community-Informed Design Award. This honor recognizes design that supports physical communities as they rebuild social structures and relationships weakened by out-migration, disinvestment, and isolation of inner-city areas. Residents, community stakeholders, local government officials, and designers are all involved in creating buildings and institutions with purposes that enhance community life. Thus, the design process is emphasized as much as the resulting physical structures that are developed in lower- or mixed-income communities.
Greenbridge is a 100-acre HOPE VI redevelopment of 1,000 low-income, workforce, rental, and for-sale homes. It replaces 568 units of World War II-era, low-income public housing. This green-built community is a product of an intensive master planning process that required nine months and over 100 meetings with residents, neighbors, and representatives of the local community. The resulting redevelopment is seen as an engine for transformational change in the larger community, in that it provides affordable housing at multiple income levels and replaces a project known for its high crime rate with a neighborhood built around parks and open spaces.
Creating Community Connection Award
Valencia Gardens, in San Francisco, California, was honored with the Creating Community Connection award that recognizes projects that incorporate housing within other community amenities for the purposes of revitalization or planned growth. Valencia Gardens is another HOPE VI development located on a five-acre site in San Francisco’s Mission District. The primary goals were to connect the project with the surrounding urban fabric, reestablish a strong sense of place among members of the community at large, and provide a safe defensible space, while acknowledging household independence. Valencia Gardens accomplishes these objectives, and instills a sense of pride among its residents through well-designed, community-oriented space and public art.
Excellence in Affordable Housing Design
K Lofts — located in urban San Diego, California — was honored with the Excellence in Affordable Housing Design Award, specifically for architecture that responds to the needs and constraints of affordable housing. This was achieved with a participatory design process that forged positive connections between and among residents, community stakeholders, local government officials, and civic groups. The result is a building that integrates public and private spaces in ways that enhance human scale and promote social interaction. K Lofts also uses defensible space principles to help revitalize this at-risk community, in conjunction with efforts to enhance the neighborhood's physical fabric.
Housing Accessibility — Alan J. Rothman Award
An exemplary project demonstrating excellence in improving housing accessibility for people with disabilities, Patrolia Loft was honored with the Alan J. Rothman Award.
This award is named in remembrance of Alan J. Rothman, HUD's late senior policy analyst on housing disability issues, who devoted his life to championing housing accessibility for the disabled.
Patrolia Loft is an interior fit-out of an existing concrete-shell apartment in Boston, Massachussetts that is specifically designed for a wheelchair-bound resident owner. The project began with the proposition that accessible design should first and foremost be good design. Specific accommodations were made for the mobility limitations and accessibility needs of the owner. The result is a well-designed, open, and dramatic home that quickly became the focus of the resident's busy life.
Other awards in the HUD Secretary’s Program include the Award for Excellence in Historic Preservation, Opportunity and Empowerment Award, and Best in American Living Awards. Complete information about these programs, past winners, and submission requirements is available at www.huduser.gov/research/secaward.html#des.
