Homes for the Homeless

Shelter Home for the Homeless

This low budget, fast track project is simple and austere. It is not obvious what kind of a building this is from the outside and the architects intentionally designed it that way in order to protect the occupants, to not entice passerby's curiosities. The result is a very simple boxy building from the outside where simplicity is carried through the inside.

Design for Homeless Shelter in San Luis Obispo

CAPSLO awarded Gwynne Pugh Urban Studio for this project where the building and the services will operate 24/7, not just the daytime. This building will house various programs such as recreational area, pet kennels, play area, commercial kitchen, with large dining room as well as medical exam rooms and mental health facilities. In private areas, 110 beds will be provided for men, women and families.

Star Apartments

This project has been hailed by many including the Time magazine, the Skid Row Foundation, the neighbors and the tenants to be one of the most successful housing projects for the homeless - a huge pride for its neighborhood. It defies the expectations of the usual housing complex for the homeless and introduces us to the fact that housing for the homeless can be just as inventive and beautiful while performing on a very high level. The architect was able to achieve LEED Platinum Certification with this building. Originally, this was a one story building but Michael Maltzan brilliantly built on top to make it a 6 story building with 102 apartments to provide as much housing as possible.

Plaza Apartments

This colorfully articulated facade building made up of wood-resin panels with windows within concrete grid houses 106 mini-studios for the homeless and the lowest income people. The articulation of the facade visually breaks down the mass of the building and blends in well with its surrounding building's proportion and scale along Sixth Street, an area that is being developed as San Francisco's South of Market Earthquake Recovery Project Area.

Holmes Road Studios

Peter Barber Architects shows us that homeless shelter buildings can be just as whimsical and functional as a page out of a story book. The architects were inspired by 10th Century Almshouses (world's first affordable housing created by Anglo-Saxon leader, King Athelstan more than a millennium ago).

La Casa

This project was the first building of its type where the chronically homeless people could find housing, just like any working professional. This 40 unit apartment building provides permanent housing. Because the homeless people can have permanent housing, the idea was that one would feel stable and in turn will feel secure to better their lives and make the transition into blending in with the society as smooth as possible.