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Federally funded by the HOPE VI program for public housing redevelopment, it includes 260 mixed-income affordable rental units for families and seniors, as well as a daycare center, community center, learning center, children's play areas, and a community sculpture garden. Four-story buildings line the perimeter, with three-story buildings along the interior blocks.

Public agencies and the developer, Mission Housing Development Corporation, suggested a gated community due to gang-related activity in the area. But the site's previous housing project had suffered due to enclosure, which had deactivated the street edge and increased stigma. The limited entrance points had been vulnerable to control by drug dealers.

The new development puts entry doors on raised stoops at the sidewalk — directing attention toward the street, providing semi-private buffer zones for clear delineation of public and private realms, creating density at the street instead of fence barriers, removing dead zones, and encouraging safe pedestrian activity. Accessible units with at-grade entrance doors are located primarily facing within the site.

According to the design team, residents who experienced both the former and the current developments have conveyed the sense that their new homes provide a safer place to live with more usable private open space and more interaction among neighbors. The project integrates well with the surrounding neighborhood and city — and no longer looks and feels like a "project."

Designing with the Community

The Greenbridge mixed-income residential development rising in White Center, Washington, also replaces a flawed public housing project. The World War II-era facilities of the previous 569-unit project suffered from lead-based paint, asbestos contamination, and mold infestation. A "garden community" site plan had created a sense of anonymity and poor delineation of public and private space.

In designing the 1,000-unit, 100-acre (40-hectare) redevelopment, also partially funded by HOPE VI, architect and master planner GGLO, with associate architect Arellano/ Christofides, consulted extensively with residents, neighbors, business leaders, local government, public agencies, and the owner to create a community of brightly colored, mixed-income, environmentally sustainable dwellings, along with parks and trails, public art, an elementary school, a public library, and retail shops.

AIA/HUD recognized the project with its Community-Informed Design Award.

The intensive public process included over 130 meetings implemented over a nine-month master planning period. Many sessions were held in the neighborhood itself, with key meetings simultaneously translated into Arabic, Cambodian, Farsi, Russian, and Somali. The design team worked to establish consensus around themes of sustainability, community, and housing diversity.

The resulting $250 million development combines townhouses, cottages, small-scale apartments, and single-family houses, including low-income, workforce rental, and for-sale homes. Planned to create defensible space, Greenbridge centers on a neighborhood hub that includes the new elementary school and renovated community center, with four major green spaces and a number of pocket parks distributed throughout the area.

Sustainable features include a system of biofiltration swales and a five-kilowatt photovoltaic installation. Narrower road widths minimize impervious surfaces and allow preservation of existing trees.

The first phase of construction was completed in 2007. The second phase is underway, planned to continue through 2011.

Excellence in Accessibility

Patrolia Loft in Boston, Massachusetts, received the Alan J. Rothman Award for housing accessibility. Ruhl Walker Architects designed this interior fit-out of an existing concrete-shell apartment for client Brian Patrolia, who uses a wheelchair. The firm sought to honestly incorporate accommodations for his mobility limitations without unnecessary concealment.   >>>

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SUBSCRIPTION SAMPLE Valencia Gardens is a mixed-use affordable public housing project in San Francisco's Mission District. Photo: Ted Betz Extra Large Image HUD's HOPE VI program funded the $50 million Valencia Gardens project, designed by Van Meter Williams Pollack LLP, with Martinez Architects, Inc. Photo: Ted Betz Extra Large Image Valencia Gardens unit plan drawings. Image: Van Meter Williams Pollack LLP Extra Large Image Site plan drawing of Greenbridge, a 100-acre (40-hectare) development in White Center, Washington. Image: GGLO Extra Large Image Greenbridge was designed by GGLO, with Arellano/ Christofides. Photo: Steve Keating Photography Extra Large Image Community participation was part of the Greenbridge master planning process. Photo: Steve Keating Photography Extra Large Image The new Greenbridge development replaces an aging World War II-era public housing project. Photo: Steve Keating Photography Extra Large Image A variety of parks grace the Greenbridge development. Photo: Steve Keating Photography Extra Large Image   Click on thumbnail images to view full-size pictures.