Houston will soon have 50 new residential units for youth leaving the foster care system and entering adulthood. The Houston Alumni and Youth (HAY) Center has broken ground on its 59,000-sf campus, with completion expected by July 2024. The HAY Center is a nonprofit program of Harris County Resources for Children and Adults and for foster youth ages 14-25 transitioning to adulthood in the Houston community.
Designed by Gensler to feel like a college campus, The HAY Center includes 50 efficiency-style apartment units with full kitchens as well as washers and dryers.Five of the units can house a single parent and one child. Connecting the apartments, a community space also offers a full kitchen, plus a flexible area that can be used for studying and for movie nights.
Input from The HAY Center’s youth informed the design of the two-building campus. Their input indicated the design should focus on five themes: home, empowerment, community, wellness, and security. Here’s a quick rundown of how Gensler’s design addresses each theme:
- Home: All activities take place in an environment that feels like home. To that end, the center features community kitchens, small and large meeting spaces, comfortable furnishings, and entrances that make everyone feel welcome.
- Empowerment: Youth are empowered by signing a lease, receiving a key, and having a place of their own.
- Community: The center is part of an established community with public transportation access, employment opportunities, and green spaces that promote a sense of belonging.
- Wellness: The design promotes physical and mental wellness. Onsite services include case workers and mental health services and other facilities available to all HAY Center youth, not only those who live on campus.
- Security: Hay Center youth do not have to depend on someone else for a place to live, and they have control of their own space. Campus security features have been based on input from the youth and industry professionals.
The project is targeting LEED Silver certification.
On the Building Team:
Owner: Harris County
Design architect and architect of record: Gensler
MEP engineer: Wylie
Structural engineer: Dally + Associates
General contractor: Arch-Con Corporation
Related Stories
Affordable Housing | Jul 27, 2023
Repeatable, supportive housing for the unhoused
KTGY’s R+D concept, The Essential, rethinks supportive housing to support the individual and community with a standardized and easily repeatable design.
Adaptive Reuse | Jul 27, 2023
Number of U.S. adaptive reuse projects jumps to 122,000 from 77,000
The number of adaptive reuse projects in the pipeline grew to a record 122,000 in 2023 from 77,000 registered last year, according to RentCafe’s annual Adaptive Reuse Report. Of the 122,000 apartments currently undergoing conversion, 45,000 are the result of office repurposing, representing 37% of the total, followed by hotels (23% of future projects).
Multifamily Housing | Jul 25, 2023
San Francisco seeks proposals for adaptive reuse of underutilized downtown office buildings
The City of San Francisco released a Request For Interest to identify office building conversions that city officials could help expedite with zoning changes, regulatory measures, and financial incentives.
Multifamily Housing | Jul 13, 2023
Walkable neighborhoods encourage stronger sense of community
Adults who live in walkable neighborhoods are more likely to interact with their neighbors and have a stronger sense of community than people who live in car-dependent communities, according to a report by the Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science at University of California San Diego.
Affordable Housing | Jul 12, 2023
Navigating homelessness with modular building solutions
San Francisco-based architect Chuck Bloszies, FAIA, SE, LEED AP, discusses his firm's designs for Navigation Centers, temporary housing for the homeless in northern California.
Multifamily Housing | Jul 11, 2023
Converting downtown office into multifamily residential: Let’s stop and think about this
Is the office-to-residential conversion really what’s best for our downtowns from a cultural, urban, economic perspective? Or is this silver bullet really a poison pill?
Adaptive Reuse | Jul 10, 2023
California updates building code for adaptive reuse of office, retail structures for housing
The California Building Standards Commission recently voted to make it easier to convert commercial properties to residential use. The commission adopted provisions of the International Existing Building Code (IEBC) that allow developers more flexibility for adaptive reuse of retail and office structures.
Multifamily Housing | Jun 29, 2023
5 ways to rethink the future of multifamily development and design
The Gensler Research Institute’s investigation into the residential experience indicates a need for fresh perspectives on residential design and development, challenging norms, and raising the bar.
Affordable Housing | Jun 27, 2023
Racial bias concerns prompt lawmakers to ask HUD to ban biometric surveillance, including facial recognition
Two members of the U.S. House of Representative have asked the Department of Housing and Urban Development to end the use of biometric technology, including facial recognition, for surveillance purposes in public housing.
Apartments | Jun 27, 2023
Average U.S. apartment rent reached all-time high in May, at $1,716
Multifamily rents continued to increase through the first half of 2023, despite challenges for the sector and continuing economic uncertainty. But job growth has remained robust and new households keep forming, creating apartment demand and ongoing rent growth. The average U.S. apartment rent reached an all-time high of $1,716 in May.