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Taylor Street Apartments and Little Italy Branch Library – ULI Americas Awards for Excellence Finalist
Learn more about 2022 ULI Americas Awards for Excellence Finalist, Taylor Street Apartments & Little Italy Branch Library (Chicago, IL).
Homekey Mountain View – ULI Americas Awards for Excellence Finalist
May 11, 2022
Photo By LifeMoves
LifeMoves | Mountain View – aerial photo
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Dining Area
Location: Mountain View, California, USA
Developers: LifeMoves; City of Mountain View; Sares Regis; XL Construction
Designers: Charles Bloszies Architecture & Structures; BKF Civil Engineers; ARUP (MEPF); West Environmental Engineering
Site Size: 1 Acre
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Singles Sleeping Unit
Homekey Mountain View is a non-congregate shelter for individuals, couples, and families with children experiencing homelessness. Responding to the pandemic and looking for innovative solutions to provide additional non-congregate shelter, LifeMoves pulled together a team of development experts to design a strategy to identify underutilized land and rapidly build housing with prefabricated, modular structures.
This model provides a cost-effective solution at $130,000/door for new, code-compliant construction ($170k/door including land), and space dedicated to supportive services, whereas motel conversion costs range between $250,000-$350,000/door and traditional housing construction can top $750,000 and reach over $1,000,000 for an affordable unit in Silicon Valley.
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Mountain View Up in the Air!
Architect Charles Bloszies incorporated architectural features that cater to the supportive services program model and promote privacy, dignity, and security. Design features such as individual housing units with ensuite bathrooms and private meeting spaces were incorporated based on the feedback of those with lived experience.
Clients benefit from the atmosphere of an individual home, with private ensuite bathrooms, shared cooking and laundry facilities, pet accommodations, and other on-site services and activities that promote a sense of community. Additionally, 30% of the constructed space is allocated towards supportive services and designed to encourage active participation, promote well-being through tall ceilings, natural daylight and open space, high quality sustainable materials, and tranquil spaces for quiet reflection.
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Community Workshop
These design features also incorporate confidential spaces for personal care and for private conversations with case managers, employment and housing specialists, and behavioral health care providers. There are also custom-designed nursing stations with secure places to store medications and host confidential medical consultations.
The community is located close to amenities with access to a grocery store, pharmacy, and shopping plaza within a two-minute walk, together with numerous transit and employment opportunities.