San Pasqual Academy Foster Youth Transitional Housing

Can also qualify for "Sustainable Design Building Catergory".

This sustainably designed development is located on a High School campus for foster children. It provides transitional housing for graduating students. These homes replace those lost in the devastating 2007 San Diego Witch Creek Fire. While changing homes may not be so unusual for these foster youths, losing a place to live from a natural disaster is a very traumatic experience. Reconstruction from natural disasters like the Witch Creek Fire is, in many ways, a healing process for residents. A new administration center replacing the one lost in the fire was also constructed. The architects designed the buildings to provide young adults a balance of supervision, education and independence.

With this housing’s physical features and subtle psychological suggestions, a revitalizing sense of community is achieved. Each housing site is treated as a neighborhood with a distinctive style indicative of the rural and agricultural environment. The architecture is low-scaled, simple agrarian building forms with rustic wood elements. The large shaded entry porches, with surrounding seat-height walls, are designed as outdoor living rooms, increasing the opportunity to socialize with neighbors and providing a casual gathering area for families and friends. Pedestrian-friendly pathways link the entire campus. The project includes shade structures for gatherings, drought tolerant landscaping, view overlooks and much needed infrastructure improvements. The unit plans and fenestrations are designed to have strong connections to the outdoors.

Sustainable design features are recognized by a LEED Platinum Certification. Beyond typical sustainability design practices, this project employed a local building plan, time-tested to survive the hot and arid environment. It also takes advantage of this climate by creating shaded cool areas in addition to the practice of current high efficiency building envelope design and equipment.
The design included
• 2x6 exterior walls with R-21 insulation
• Prefabricated wood framing
• Rainwater harvesting
• Radiant barrier with high insulation value at attic space
• Eave vent with ridge vent cooling the roof sheathing
• High efficiency tankless water heater
• Use of recycled mature orange trees

This campus housing is an architecturally impressive project with a purpose, serving as a tool to support the lives of young adults. This community brings them stability, knowledge and preparation for their future.