A WAY FORWARD
TRANSITIONAL FAMILY HOUSING
For those finding home
WEST SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA / 1995
I partnered with the city of West Sacramento to transform an abandoned 11-unit motel into a transitional family housing complex to support community members after a crisis, such as homelessness or domestic violence.
The original motel featured freestanding buildings with gaps between each unit. To maximize square footage, an essential family need, I joined three freestanding double units into one six-unit row house, incorporating the outdoor gaps and transforming them into usable square footage. Inspired by traditional European row houses, decorative spacers separate the expanded units, creating individualized front façades. The gated complex’s units face each other across a communal driveway-courtyard for security and safety.
PROJECT SIZE
11 units
MATERIALS
Abandoned motel
A new laundry room and children’s playground foster individual independence and provide families with their most requested facilities.
All the interior and exterior elements, from roofs and windows to paints and doors, were updated with high-quality, durable materials to reduce maintenance costs and provide a sustainable, stable living environment.
Before the renovation.