| Providing 50 units of permanent supportive housing and 25,300sf of mixed-use commercial and medical services, the LA Family Housing Campus is the first of its kind. At just the groundbreaking phase, Mayor Eric Garcetii proclaimed "The Campus for LA Family Housing is the model for the City in ending homelessness."
With a budget of nearly $40M, the efficient planning, programming, and design relied on the following guiding principles.
1. CORE IDENTITY. LAFH is the proverbial heart of the Valley community. It is a consistent, long-term resource with established trust and street cred. It offers sanctuary. The pride and character of these qualities should be reflected throughout, creating a cohesive campus identity that permeates the great variety of internal campus services and external campus relationships.
2. SANCTUARY. The quality of sanctuary, particularly, should be a relieving surprise upon entry to the campus interior; but it should also be hinted at in the campus exterior edges. Notably, the environment should be non-industrial; not 'of-the-street,' but 'off-the-street.'
3. EASE OF SERVICES. The environment needs to be conceived to maximize the accessibility and flow of services; to minimize entry stress, to engage clients at their level of reluctance (from sidewalk, to courtyard niche, to safer interior space), and to create adjacencies and sequences of service spaces that allow easy, intuitive, instinctive way-finding.
4. INCLUSION. The campus environment should celebrate human differences, and support a broad sense of inclusion, including those with all manner of disabilities and eccentricities, including those with pets.
5. RESIDENTIAL NEIGHBORS. Residential neighborhood sensitivity and empathy should occur in a range of areas: Design should minimize impacts of served population on these edges. Design of neighbor-facing architecture should be subtle in expression. Neighbors should be engaged in the planning process and reviews.
6. COMPONENT IDENTITIES. Institutional identity to Lankershim Boulevard should project professionalism, responsibility, and organizational pride. Permanent housing identity and circulation should be discrete from other components, reflecting its status as independent housing. Services identity should be welcoming but subtle. Health clinic identity requires street presentation/address; but can also be part of an internal courtyard complement of services.
7. SAFETY/SECURITY. Principles of safety and security need to be addressed at the master planning level in order to avoid costly post-occupancy 'fixes.'
8.FLEXIBILITY. A core principle of LAFH is flexibility - in interpretation of rules, in policy, and in environment. Master planning should anticipate future flexible programs and flexible multi-purpose spaces that can continuously accommodate changing needs.
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