The County of Sacramento is advancing a prototype community in North Highlands that transforms a former big box retail site into temporary housing, shelter, and support services for individuals experiencing homelessness.
Challenge
Transforming a former retail site into a comprehensive support community required balancing emergency shelter, transitional housing, and social services within a single environment. The design needed to accommodate diverse guest needs while maximizing the functionality and value of the existing site and buildings.
Solution
As Architect of Record, we aligned design with purpose to maximize space utilization and functionality. The existing large-format building is being repurposed to provide amenities, community rooms, training and development areas, mental health and case management services, catering facilities, a respite centre, and emergency weather response space. The site also includes modular tiny-home shelter neighbourhoods for 225 guests and a secure outdoor area accommodating up to 50 parking guests.
Outcome
The Watt Avenue Safe Stay and Service Center will offer compassion and dignity to its guests with measurable social impact. The collaborative design services from NORR, in combination with the outcomes-focused public services of the County of Sacramento will help individuals and families experiencing homelessness to regain health, income and permanent housing stability.
As Sacramento County’s third and largest Safe Stay community, the modular “shelter neighborhoods” will provide transitional housing for up to 225 guests, creating a community-focused alternative to encampments.
The County of Sacramento is innovating a unique prototype community in response to homelessness. The County is advancing a vision to convert a former big box retail building and associated parking lots into temporary housing with supporting shelter, amenities, and social services. The adaptive reuse project in North Highlands will become the third, and largest, Safe Stay community in the County, with a strong focus on immediate emergency shelter – and a longer-term goal to help transition occupants of encampments into longer term shelter and permanent housing.
As the Architect of Record, NORR is aligning design with purpose to manage the greatest use of space and functionality to maximize value for the public agency and achieve common goals to improve the lives of the unhoused. The architecture program proposes three main spaces to serve the various needs of guest types.
- The existing large format building will be repurposed to centrally provide multiple support services for distinct government funded programs. The design provides integration of amenities, community rooms, training and development areas, mental health and case management spaces, catering services, respite center, and emergency weather response.
- A large portion of the parking lot will be transformed into “shelter neighborhoods” made up of modular tiny homes that will serve a total of 225 guests. The tiny homes will offer double and single occupancy as transitional shelter.
- A segregated secure outdoor space for up to 50 parking guests will provide overnight stays on the site with access to amenities and services as required.
The Watt Avenue Safe Stay and Service Center will offer compassion and dignity to its guests with measurable social impact. The collaborative design services from NORR, in combination with the outcomes-focused public services of the County of Sacramento, will help individuals and families experiencing homelessness to regain health, income, and permanent housing stability.
