As tiny home villages become an increasingly popular — and effective — approach to housing those experiencing homelessness, thoughtful design is key in getting these projects off the ground.
In Los Angeles, the nonprofit Hope the Mission built its first (of many) tiny home neighborhoods in 2020 and opened it in 2021.
The Chandler Tiny Home Village was an experimental and timely template for the city’s homelessness crisis on the heels of the COVID-19 pandemic and created a blueprint for many others to follow.
“This project … transforms a forgotten, oddly-shaped infill lot into a 39 one-or-two-person/unit facility for unhoused Angelenos using prefabricated ‘pallet shelters,’” architecture firm Kadre Architects writes about the build.
“In projects like these, design matters, both to uplift residents and to respectfully complete and enhance the neighborhood serving to inspire pride for these projects in a local community.”
The village is made of 40 homes and 75 beds, with units that measure 64 square feet. The units are pallet shelter structures, which are made by a Seattle-based company that offers standalone and private structures, each placed six feet apart.
While the homes are certainly not a permanent solution, they include heating and air conditioning, two beds, outlets, smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, windows, a small desk, and a locking front door. This allows people to store their personal possessions and gain a sense of privacy and independence as they get back on their feet.
“I believe in a housing-first model, where we would move everybody into a home and apartment, permanent housing,” Hope the Mission CEO Ken Craft told LAist when the village first opened.
“The problem is that it's not available. And so in an area like Los Angeles, if we're going to sit and wait until affordable housing is built, the homeless problem is going to keep growing. We have to be able to get people off the streets and get them into interim housing, while we're addressing the issue of affordable and permanent housing.”
Although the living quarters are modest for residents, they have access to onsite meals, WiFi, showers, mental health support, job training, case management, and a small dog park.
The aesthetic design of the village is also bright, colorful, and welcoming, with each unit painted a bright monochrome color.
“The idea behind the bright colors is to give the village a less institutional feel,” the U.S. Office of Policy Development and Research writes in a case study of the community.
Kadre Architects said the design was one of “spatial character, colorful details, and logistical efficiency,” which created a “model community space with a level of design sensitivity and beauty not often seen in these types of projects.”
To qualify to live in the village, individuals must be unsheltered and reside within a three-mile radius of the site. Hope the Mission’s outreach and engagement team often conducts interviews to determine vulnerability in need in the community, placing residents in respective shelters.
Chandler Tiny Home Village residents do not pay rent but are expected to work toward a goal of permanent housing during a 90-day stay. Staff may also grant extensions to tenants who are making progress toward this goal.
Since this particular community was built, Hope the Mission has opened six other tiny home villages, and Los Angeles constructed 6,700 units of transitional housing and 11 total tiny home villages.
“As a prototype for future similar developments, the Chandler Boulevard Tiny Homes Village demonstrated that transitional housing could be developed quickly on city owned property and co-exist with adjoining residential neighborhoods,” the Office of Policy Development and Research added.
“The creative, non-institutional design features … also set a standard for the other villages that were to follow.”
Header image courtesy of Kadre Architects
