Circle City Courts

The conceptual design proposed a low-density garden village comprised of two distinct apartment communities unified by a grand, central lawn.

PROJECT SUMMARY

Client:              Century Affordable Development
Location:         Buena Vista Ave & 2nd St. Corona CA 92882
Units:               150 Supportive and Affordable Family Housing Units
Size:                50,267 GSF (38,004 Residential NSF)
Urban Design:  City Fabrick
Status:            Design Proposal 2020

The Circle City Courts is an affordable housing project planned for a prominent site convenient to the Corona City Hall, regional transit, public schools and retail, bordered by the Riverside Freeway.  The City’s vision is to provide the greatest level of affordability for homeless individuals and families, alongside permanent supportive housing, all enhanced with extensive amenities and programming.  The development proposal suggested modular construction due to budget, construction cost and speed of delivery in order to efficiently deliver the project in two phases of 75 units each.  A third phase, in partnership with Habitat for Humanity, included townhouses for families.  The conceptual design proposed a low-density garden village, comprised of two distinct apartment communities unified by a grand, central lawn defined by a sculptural multi-purpose room and open-air pavilion. The buildings boldly engage the adjacent context while insulating the village from the freeway.  Recalling campus design, each of the L-shaped apartment buildings embraces a dedicated courtyard that augments the grand lawn with informal recreation area.  Lobbies, community rooms, laundry and stairwells distributed throughout the ground floor activate the adjacent courtyards. The building circulation is a prominent feature:  lacy exterior bridges and stairwells, inspired by Moroccan screen panels, create porosity that admits passage of light and air.  A ring of Eucalyptus trees frames the grand lawn.  Landscape amenities include a community garden sheltered by fruiting trees, children’s play area, half-court basketball and an urban forest that buffers the village from the freeway.  On-grade parking is shaded with solar panels.