Corazón Del Valle is a 180-unit affordable housing project that consists of 90 large family and 90 permanent supportive housing units. The housing program is shaped into three amorphous volumes that sit atop a community-serving retail, supportive office, and parking plinth.
Various approaches were considered for their potential to shape community space. The selected scheme took its inspiration from a slot canyon. The design’s deep, narrow outdoor spaces take queues from nature to create shaded breezy respites in the hot San Fernando Valley. The building’s form funnels and accelerates prevailing southwesterly winds into the central community space. Computational fluid dynamics were used to study and adjust the design to optimize this affect.
Interior community spaces are connected to a battery backup system that provides power in emergency outages for cooling and refrigeration.
The landscape is entirely irrigated with greywater from the project’s washing machines – approximately 72,000 gallons per year.
Photovoltaic panels provide 22% of the project’s electrical power.
