Thirty-nine prefabricated "tiny homes", suitable for one or two people, have been built in 13 weeks at Chandler Boulevard Bridge Home Village in north Hollywood, Los Angeles.
Designed by Lehrer Architects for the Bureau of Engineering for the City of Los Angeles, the 8ft × 8ft pallet homes are described as a "bridge" shelter, taking people off the streets until they can move into permanent accommodation.
The Chandler Boulevard Bridge Home Village is located on a leftover infill site that would not have been able to house residents in trailers.
As well as shelter, the village will offer collective dining and gathering spaces, a pet play area, showers, restrooms, laundry space, pest control, secure storage, and assistance with accessing city services.
Homes are painted in bright colours to create the collective effect of a 3D painting.
Michael Lehrer, Lehrer Architects’ founding partner, said: "For us, projects like this are exhilarating. Political, time and cost constraints were severe – demanding extreme design discipline and chops. Â
"Our focus was to honour, nurture and restore a modicum of wholeness and delight to our fellow citizens without homes. Every move is conceived to add significant value and be cost-neutral: in that vein, colour is used extensively to create a sense of community and places of respect, dignity and joy. Projects for people at all levels of the social ladder, but particularly those near the bottom, remind us again and again that beauty is a rudiment of human dignity."
Nerin Kadribegovic, Lehrer Architects’ partner, said: "The biggest cost contributors were the 550ft long sewer line extension, protective barriers for pedestrians, levelling the street due to lack of sidewalks and adding a fire lane throughout the entire site, but this upfront investment means that the site is now developed in perpetuity, so will continue to serve the city after it has completed serving the houseless residents."
Images courtesy of Lehrer Architects
