This housing complex was designed to add to the demographic mix of the neighborhood by adding a variety of dwelling types and retail space on a significant site sandwiched among train tracks, industrial buildings, and a dense utility area. The building contains 11 live-work studios on the first floor and 223 single units on the six floors above; in plan the complex provides a flexible living environment with flow-through ventilation, bright daylight, and maximum opportunity for outdoor spaces on terraces, balconies, and planted rooftop decks.

Working with engineers and daylighting specialists at Buro Happold, kdA developed several sustainable design aspects integral to the design and structure of the building. Using mass thermal storage, cross ventilation, radiant floor heating, and daylighting and shading, the building complex requires minimal heating and no mechanical air conditioning. The most unique element is the use of the seismic structural system as a performative façade that shades and protects the building from overheating in summer.

The façade’s structural seismic system consists of a steel brace frame attached to the poured-in-place concrete building. The concrete provides the thermal mass for the building and minimizes the extremes in daily temperature throughout the year. This system coupled with the hydronic radiant floor heating reduces the need for mechanical air conditioning.