AFFORDABLE HOUSING

S TA R A P PA R T M E N T, L O S A N G E L E S
 PROJECT NAME -Star Apartments

L O C AT I O N
Los Angeles ,CA ,United States

CLIENT/OWNER
Skid Row Housing Trust

PROJECT TYPES
Community ,Multifamily ,Retail

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SIZE
95,000 sq. feet

FABRIKAM RESIDENCES YEAR COMPLETED 2013

SHARED BY
Deane madsen ,editor, Hanley wood, LLC

TEAM
Michael Maltzan , FAIA , Primary autho r
Skid Row Housing Trust provides permanent supportive housing so that
people who have experienced homelessness, prolonged extreme
poverty, poor health, disabilities, mental illness and/or addiction can
lead safe, stable lives in wellness.

Demographics of Skid Row
Skid Row has an estimated total
population of 10,000 residents, with
approximately 2,500 people
occupying beds and missions and
transitional facilities and over 1,000
sleeping on the streets. The median
household income is just over
$11,000, a fraction of the $46,000
average income of the City of Los
Angeles.
SITE CONTEXT
The Star Apartments are located in the Skid Row
neighborhood, known for its large homeless
population .The site of the building has frontage on
East 6th Street on the northeast, Wall Street on the
southeast, and Maple Avenue to the northwest.
The Evolution of Skid Row
Originally a transient neighborhood where migrant
workers found cheap seasonal housing Skid Row
grew into a hub for illicit activity and violence. Today
it is a highly stigmatized neighborhood, home to a
diverse homeless population of over 4,100, many of
whom are chronically homeless and live in absolute
poverty. Located in the heart of Downtown LA, Skid
Row’s 50 square blocks represent the highest
concentration of homelessness in the entire U.S.
INTRODUCTION
 Star Apartments is also breathtaking architecture, consisting of a
staggered row of four-story white blocks hovering over the existing
ground level. Between these two levels is a large terrace, providing
communal outdoor space away from the street. To save on cost and
construction time, the 102 housing units within the blocks were
prefabricated and lifted by crane on top of each other like blocks.
Maltzan states that it's the first multi-unit housing to use this method
since the mid-20th century, a time when prefabrication was
celebrated as a modern, mechanized solution to the housing problem.
 Star Apartments features an on-site wellness center, medical clinic,
and community areas for socializing, making art, using computers,
and exercising. As Theresa Hwang, Community Architect at the Trust
notes, these additions to the residences represent a unique
architectural investment in community-building activities. "It's really
pushing the typology of permanent supportive housing," she says.

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CONCEPT
 "How can the homeless become viewed as equal if
their housing is not?" As to questions about
spending more than the bare minimum on their
projects, there's an equation. Living in equal “Homelessness is not simply solved by providing
housing creates a sense of pride which in turn a roof over one’s head. It is a layered and
encourages permanence for the residents. complex social condition that requires an equally
Homelessness is not caused by lack of shelter, but by layered and nuanced approach.”
detachment from society and lack of social support

 “In Michael Maltzan's Star

Apartments, which house long-
term homeless people, the Free
space component create a world
where individual can find the
space to experience a new view
of themselves - a space where a
new community evolve."

Architect says, “allowing us to reconsider how a building can be lived

in, can support its residents, fit into the evolving city, and even be
made.”
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 STAR APPARTMENT FR

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 Super-Structure

BLOCKING SRHT challenged MMA

to develop a design
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that could make use of
the existing building.
MMA’s solution was to
pour a concrete “super-
structure” to support
modular units.
Modular Pre-
Fab
Construction
Modular units saved
not only construction
costs and material waste,
but also allowed for a
maximum amount of units
to be included in the
Multi-Purpose project and insured each
resident a room with
Community natural light and
Space ventilation, both of which
The super-structure design not help reduce energy costs.
only saved the existing building
from demolition, it also created Urban Fabric Improvements
an opportunity to include 15,000
sq.ft of community The ground floor of the building is home to a
programming space that medical clinic open to all neighborhood residents, the
provides a jogging track, activity Trust’s leasing office, and the administrative offices
court, art room, library, edible of the Department of Health Services, helping to
garden, patio and a community improve the physical and economic vitality of the
kitchen. neighborhood. 7
PLAN FR

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Community meeting room adjacent to outdoor
areas
UNIT MODEL
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CONSTRUCTION
Prefabricated construction is the used of assembling a variety of
components of a structure at a manufacturing site and transporting
those sub-assemblies to the location of the construction jobsite.
Prefabricated construction is sometimes thought of as a low-end
and mass produced mode of construction. In reality however, it is
quite the opposite. Prefabricated construction is becoming more
common, improving in quality and has become available in a
variety of budgets. Despite the perception of prefabrication, there
are numerous benefits to this type of construction..

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