We created an accessible, secure, dignified and private environment that responds inventively to the city’s progressive and innovative approach to tackling homelessness.
Todd Schliemann, Design Partner
The design for this safe haven promotes physical and psychological comfort by choreographing a spatial sequence that supports a non-threatening, orderly and dignified evaluation and assistance process. Throughout the building, large, west-facing spaces with abundant natural light provide open administrative work areas for staff, client waiting areas and client interview rooms.
The building is located in an urbanistically and architecturally diverse area of the Bronx. Formally and texturally, the consistent use of materials relates to the building’s two distinct contexts and characterizes the skin of the building: terra cotta references the brick of residential buildings; zinc and metal trim tracery evoke an industrial aesthetic consistent with the nearby manufacturing district; and glass reinforces the goals of visibility and transparency.
The building’s program is organized into two distinct parts. The first floor and concourse are the more public and active, accommodating intake and screening in a series of open and spacious rooms that are both physically and visually accessible. Other functions on the lower floors include a medical suite, security, personal item storage, a variety of social services and mechanical spaces.
Open administrative work areas for staff, client waiting areas, and client meeting/interview rooms occupy a series of large, loft-like, daylit spaces on the upper floors.