Kennedy Homes is a LEED Gold certified, 132-unit affordable housing project poised at the gateway to the City of Fort Lauderdale and the historic Sailboat Bend neighborhood. This project is intended to help address a shortage of affordable housing in the western end of Fort Lauderdale. The Kennedy Homes project includes one, two, and three-bedroom units for seniors and families, and community facilities and site amenities on 8.5 acres in the historic core of the city. Kennedy Homes creates a gateway into Fort Lauderdale and the neighborhood. To create a project that was sustainable, community-oriented, affordable, pedestrian friendly, and transit-oriented, while also meeting the needs of existing residents and the long-term goals of the Housing Authority of the City of Fort Lauderdale (HACFL), Glavovic Studio carefully considered the local climate, architecture, and culture of Florida along with existing construction systems and client program.

Kennedy Homes is comprised of publicly subsidized housing, which was developed by HACFL and Carlisle Development Group. Glavovic Studio addressed complex issues of local planning and zoning ordinances in developing its program for modern affordable housing. Budget and site constraints were innovatively resolved by the Project Team, with a mix of conventional and modular construction components and repetitive design elements. Glavovic Studio’s overall approach includes an initial design concept that supports a green approach and working with the Project Team on a sustainability agenda and constant communication with all parties to ensure a high quality-of-life for residents.

The basic design premise is to develop the site as an expanded green space within a series of urban edges, each linked to distinct portion of the neighborhood or corridor. Along the site’s primary urban frontage, Broward Boulevard, housing units are designed with numerous balconies and a fine-grained pattern to create a scale transition into the historic neighborhood from east to west. This also occurs along the site’s entry corridors, 9th Avenue and 11th Avenue, from north to south, creating links and connections into Sailboat Bend. Within this multi-family landscaped community, courtyards, single-loaded corridors, overhangs, masonry construction, awnings and orientations carefully capture southeast-northwest breezes. The inclusion of secure courtyards, play areas, and plazas throughout the site doubles the existing tree canopy.