OAKLAND: A light, airy refuge for 91 low-income, special needs seniors in Oakland, California, won the Excellence in Affordable Housing Design category in the AIA/HUD Secretary’s Awards on Thursday.
Demonstrating that housing for the homeless can and should include thoughtful, aesthetically pleasing design, the Lakeside Senior Apartments designed by David Baker Architects opened last year on the site of a former parking lot a block from the Lake Merritt waterfront.
The complex supports independent living with extensive on-site services for its residents, many of whom were displaced in the gentrifying and wildly expensive local housing market…