Star Apartments
Los Ángeles US
Michael Maltzan
2014
Type
Collective dwelling
Tags
+ density, shared spaces , community infrastructures, participatory processes, urban prototypes, social housing , safe spaces, spaces of care , Skid Row Housing Trust, 200Best
Visitability
Allowed
Description
The new Star Apartments for the Skid Row Housing Trust transformed an existing one-story commercial building in downtown Los Angeles into a mixed-used complex with 102 apartments for formerly homeless individuals. The LEED for Homes Platinum develop-ment, located at 6th Street and Maple Avenue along the border of Skid Row, sets a new model for urbanism and increased density by adding new community spaces and resi-dential levels above.The six-story, 95,000 sf building expands upon the Skid Row Housing Trust’s model of providing permanent supportive housing within the downtown core by incorporating a new type of shared public space within the building. Star Apartments is organized around three principal spatial zones stacked one upon the other: a public health zone at street level; a second level for community and wellness programs; and four terraced floors of residences above. The building includes an onsite medical clinic, a 15,000 square foot Health and Wellness Center, and the new headquarters of the LA County Department of Health Services’ (DHS) Housing for Health Division.(Description provided by the architects)