KDI is working with development and architecture firm, Abode Communities, to plan, design, and build new affordable housing. This project, Villa Verde, will provide 153 units of affordable housing in the City of Coachella, where it is so urgently needed. KDI is leading the community engagement and participatory design process, in addition to serving as the landscape architect for the development.
Context
Original conditions at the site
The Eastern Coachella Valley lacks safe and healthy housing options. Decades of under-investment have led to very little stick-built housing, leaving the dominant typology as unpermitted mobile homes.
These mobile homes—immobile for decades—are long past their typical lifespan and have precarious connections to water and electricity. Local communities also lack sufficient access to public space to support health and wellbeing.
Process
A resident selecting amenities for the site
KDI is leading the community-led design process, using on-street engagements, workshops, focus groups and other strategies to co-design a development that serves the needs of local low-income residents of all ages.
KDI is also serving as the landscape architect of this project, adding over an acre of open public space, and preserving visual and spatial connectivity to the surrounding neighborhood.
Solution
Site plan of the development
The development will include 50,000 square feet of open space that center around a promenade known as “Verde Path."
KDI collaborated with the community to develop the project’s design and plan, so in scale, program, material, and layout, the housing responds directly to the community’s vision. A plaza, located at the western property line, will offer an outdoor pavilion, a play structure, an interactive splash pad, and a resident center, among other features selected by community members.
Impact
Residents play the "Villa Verde game" to select amenities
Slated for completion in 2023, the resulting development will be a critical source of affordable housing for low-income families in the City of Coachella.
Through community-designed amenities and locally inspired landscaping, Villa Verde will promote social cohesion and solidarity, reflect the vibrancy and resiliency of the local community, and integrate with the surrounding neighborhood.
