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“La Casa” is the first new-construction permanent supportive housing project for the District’s Department of Human Services.  The project, designed in conjunction with joint venture partner Leo A Daly, consists of forty single-occupancy living units with community and support spaces covering nearly twenty five thousand square feet.   Currently the District operates a variety of housing types and models to accommodate the homeless, most of which focus on temporary, nightly shelter.  The La Casa Permanent Supportive Housing Project is the first to construct new private dwelling units, with full living spaces, kitchens and baths for the chronically homeless. 

In addition to maximizing the number of individual living units that could be accommodated on the small site, the City wanted to redefine a homeless care paradigm that typically produces antiseptic institutional facilities.  The architects were fortunate in having a municipal client that required design quality that would “meet and/or exceed” that of adjacent market-rate condominium buildings.   As the first new-build permanent supportive housing facility in the City, La Casa is an important milestone for the District in its effort to redefine the concept of housing for the homeless community.

La Casa also has important urban planning responsibilities.  Sightlines extend from La Casa to the metro station, and the vibrancy of the building and its residents is reflected in the comings and goings of metro riders.  The building’s seven stories help to make the transition from the nine story buildings that face 14th Street to the lower four and five story buildings that comprise the Irving Street residential neighborhood. The façades reflect the vibrant activity of this urban face along Irving Street.  The solid-void pattern of the façade emulates the adjacent multifamily residential buildings to achieve a contextual scale, and the fenestration further refines this texture while providing equal amounts of glazing for each dwelling unit. 

Unit interiors are designed for space efficiency and durability.  Inspired by more costly studio loft apartments, each dwelling unit provides floor-to-ceiling operable windows for natural daylighting and ventilation.    The units offer functional simplicity, coupling a hybrid living, eating, and kitchen space with a sleeping niche.  Warm and durable flooring of exposed concrete and bamboo complements crisp white walls and a refined gray kitchen.  Countertops are made by Alkemi, comprised of shredded, recycled aluminum cans floating in resin. The bathrooms are finished in ceramic tile, with industrial fixtures.  Each unit is fully ADA compliant.