801 Alma Street Family Housing

Design

Designed by award-winning architect Rob Quigley, 801 Alma Street will be an attractive, eye-catching building that is at the transition of a more residential area to the south and a commercial area just to the north. The building will have a contemporary design with angled stucco walls on the Alma Street and alley facades, and it draws inspiration from the traditional shingled homes in the nearby neighborhoods to bring a residential feeling and texture to the exterior walls.

Garden courts that bring natural light to all rooms in the apartments and to the corridors will break up the facades. The courts will be filled with tall bamboo that will provide visual privacy between apartments. The building's front entry porch and lobby will sit at the corner of Homer and Alma and will help define a gateway to the downtown.

Inside the building, common spaces will all be accessible from the lobby. The community room's glass doors will open into the outdoor courtyard with trees and landscaping, a barbecue, space for families to gather, and a children's play area.

A commitment to sustainability and energy conservation guided the building's design. A "living roof" composed of many small drought-tolerant plants will mitigate storm water run-off, provide increased insulation to the building, and help reduce utility costs. The living roof will require little irrigation, since it will be seasonal like the surrounding hillsides. Provisions for roof-top solar hot water and photovoltaic panels have been included in the design. The placement of these panels on top of the living roof will actually increase their efficiency because of the lower ambient temperature from the plants.

In addition, the building will utilize paints that are low in volatile organic compounds (VOC), renewable materials, high efficiency light fixtures and appliances, and low water use plumbing fixtures. All of these features will help the building achieve a "Green Point" rating for sustainability.

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