Several shared spaces and amenities elevate the community living experience (Visualization by Neumascape Studio)
The awning brings in ample natural light into the space with translucent and transparent roof panels and strategically placed roof openings. (Visualization by Neumascape Studio)
Diagram of Adaptive Reuse units
Several shared spaces and amenities elevate the community living experience (Visualization by Neumascape Studio)
Los Angeles and much of California face a deepening housing crisis, manifested most visibly by people experiencing homelessness. One of the primary drivers of street homelessness is the cost and speed of building large-scale, attractive, convenient, safe housing. Cost and speed similarly negatively impact the creation of sufficient housing stock to prevent people from falling into homelessness. Urban Awnings, a new typology of housing, is one solution to these challenges.
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Envisioned by the development firm Gilmore Associates in partnership with the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners (UBC) and award winning Architecture firms, Urban Awnings reimagines affordable accommodation and housing for those most in need in Southern California and beyond. The partnership combines each entity’s expertise in architecture, building technologies, construction, and knowledge of civic processes in order to build this new housing. This housing typology will simultaneously provide architecturally unique structures, adaptable to numerous geographic locations while focusing on areas that offer a community feel for residents within the context of our region’s varied lifestyles.
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The UBC built prototypes of the housing at its International Training Center in Las Vegas where in February 2020, a large delegation of Los Angeles elected and other officials visited. The officials left very impressed with the product, with several members of the Los Angeles City Council expressing interest in creating such communities in their districts.
New Housing Typology
EMERGENCY SETTLEMENT
It is a cost-effective solution that provides fast, inexpensive transitional living space and services to those currently living on the street.
Adaptive reuse
It allows for the conversion of existing warehouses and other large structures into housing utilizing green technology.
communities
These ground-up developments consist of multiple structures integrated as fully functioning communities and provide protection from weather fluctuations.
news
Urban Awnings was recognized with an Honorable Mention in the 68th Annual Progressive Architecture Awards and featured in the March 2021 issue of ARCHITECT magazine.
Bold Solutions to L.A.’s Homeless Crisis. Urban Awnings featured in this article in Los Angeles magazine on October 1, 2020.