Harbor Navigation Center

The Harbor Navigation Center is located between the 110 Harbor freeway and John S. Gibson Blvd, at a corner of the Harbor LAPD site. The construction of the project was funded by Proposition HHH, a popular measure aiming to provide supportive infrastructure and housing to 34,000 individuals in the City of Los Angeles. Careful consideration was given to conveying the sense of permanence, belonging and dignity that the city and its resident’s desire. At 3.9M and approximately 12,360 sf total redeveloped area, the site cost $316 per square foot. The facility connects individuals experiencing homelessness with case managers for housing placement. Simultaneously, the building provides a space to safely store their possessions. The choice of materials and planar horizontal moves are in dialogue with its neighbors. The vertical ridges of the metal siding evoke the ridges of shipping containers at the Port across the street and on the LAPD façade next door. Multi-helix Tower, a sculpture by Dennis Oppenheim has occupied the site since 2007. The towering artwork acts as a beacon drawing people to the covered plaza. A masonry screen with a series of voids that cast and receive patterned shadows allows people to sort their belongings to be stored here.