Located in close proximity to the MTA Exposition Line Expo / Western station, the project is situated along a bustling commercial and retail corridor of neighborhood-serving mom-and-pop shops on Western Blvd.  The project aims to engender synergy between the residential units and the nearby shops, as well as provide access to public transit.  This project illustrates TAC’s diagrammatic approach to design, starting with the essential building blocks of program, which are then shaped by the external constraints that act upon the project.  The project provides 16 two- and three-bedroom units for families and 16 one-bedroom units for homeless veterans.  The program also includes social services, community room, 2nd floor garden terrace and a roof deck.  Three stories of high-density apartment stock are placed over a ground-level parking podium.  The residential floors feature open-ended corridors to provide ample cross-ventilation throughout the length of the building.  External forces, such as the fine texture and smaller scale of adjacent residential units, and the traffic speeding by on Western, push and pull on the massing, refining its form.  The forces generate a roof deck on the south end of the structure as well as an overhanging front façade, creating the opportunity for a green landscaped corridor at the pedestrian level.  A narrow courtyard adjoins the backside of the building on the second level, providing a garden refuge lifted above the podium level and sheltered from public view.  Circulation towers anchor the project, framing the main entrance at the south end and creating visual interest along the façade at the north end.  The main façade can be read as a blank white canvas punctuated with randomized openings.  The façade angles away from the eye with shading fins projecting from the sides of the windows, interacting with the environment and creating a pixelating effect that pops with color.