Pugh + Scarpa's Colorado Court. Santa Monica, CA. Larry Scarpa is one of the Design Resource team members at the Affordable Housing Design Leadership Institute.
The Enterprise Rose Architectural Fellowship recently announced its plans for the first-ever Affordable Housing Design Leadership Institute at the University of Minnesota in July 2010. Funded by the McKnight Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts, the Institute will partner front-line affordable housing design architects and developers in a charrette geared towards improving the quality of affordable housing projects around the country. Check back for more news. In the meantime, read Architectural Record’s story here.
On November 6, 2009, San Francisco Housing Development Corporation celebrated the opening of its latest project Cheryl Towns Homes at 4800 Third Street. The mixed use building anchors the corner of Third Street and Oakdale Avenue with 18 affordable condominiums and over 2,000 square feet of commercial space.
As a Rose Fellow, I came to the project just as financing was closing. I spent the last two years working with the development consultant from the client side of the project.
This will be a great site to welcome first-time homebuyers. The building is directly in front of a light rail platform and includes bike storage. Homeowners will enjoy and abundance of natural light in their homes, granite counter tops, stainless steel, energy star appliances. Solar panels power the common electrical needs. I even put in a little hands-on work and sewed fabric panels for the lobby.
Project Website
http://www.sfhdc.org/index.php/page/4800BayOaks
The New Year is off to a productive start for the Rose Fellows as Enterprise officially launches online workbooks to assist and guide project managers through Green Communities compliance and certification procedures. Two years in the making , the nation al Green Communities development team translate feedback from Rose Fellows into a productive online resource that guides project managers towards strategic decisions and accountability measures.
Rose Fellows Ophelia Wilkins, Jessy Olson, and Esther Yang spearheaded efforts that compiled construction field observations and Green Communities project feedback to shed insight on the process towards high-performance development. Workbooks aim to trump the pre-existing compliance mentality as fueled by a checklist, but encourages and emphasizes informed partnerships and thoughtful collaborations between the design, development, and construction teams. Furthermore, these spreadsheets will also serve as a tool and guide for project managers deliberating criteria and certification feasibility.
You can find the workbooks on the Green Communities website: http://www.greencommunitiesonline.org/tools/certification_process.asp