In Los Angeles, low-income or supportive housing units and services are often associated with scarcity. Despite our recent efforts to catch up with housing demand and expand social services throughout the city, need far surpasses our available resources. The services that do exist are specialized and often scattered throughout a region. The Village of Hope is an unbuilt project designed in response to The California’s Endowment’s call for proposals to expand their headquarters on an empty lot located on the southeast corner of LA’s Chinatown neighborhood. Working in collaboration with developers Primestor, Daylight Community Development, and the Decro Corporation, the proposal aspires to fulfill the vision proposed by the Endowment by pooling an array of critical services all in one location. The result is a campus that offers a holistic approach to achieving housing stability combining interim and supportive units with a clinic, counseling, childcare and employment services.
The Village of Hope includes 115 permanent supportive, low-income units and 30 beds of interim housing. The lower levels of the project include dedicated space for a health clinic, a cafeteria, a street front market, therapy, recreation, and daycare. A lush productive vertical garden links it all together blurring the lines between building and landscape. Housing provided would prioritize formerly incarcerated individuals experiencing housing instability. Open community plazas, views of the horizon, and choice of movement through the building guide the design.
Village of Hope
