This project seeks a form to meet the unique needs of one of the most housing-precarious segments of our society: transitional-aged youth who have recently emerged from foster care. Without a credit history or family network, options for housing in California’s least affordable market are virtually nonexistent.

An 8-unit complex planned for beachside Santa Monica, Little Berkeley eschews both the dormitory conditions of typical transitional housing and the normative dingbat courtyard of much of the surrounding residential fabric. The basic module for the project was generated following conversations with participants in a local program serving transition-age youth. Former foster kids emphasized privacy, security, and social connection as essential domestic characteristics and those became the basis for individual units.

Units were then organized in geometric primitives, providing each resident a space of their own that can be altered to meet their specific needs. Optimized for prefabrication, L-shaped units in two plan configurations provide a public downstairs and a sleeping loft. Large windows at the second level provide natural light and allow the unit to remain open to cross ventilation. The units are arrayed in precise, Tetris-like clusters and clad with factory painted corrugated metal siding rain screen, placed at a slight bias to create a spiraling effect in the spaces between the buildings. The maze-like spaces between these clusters create courtyards and shared living spaces, reinforcing the social program of the project.