The concept behind our Leimert Park housing project is that this building is to be an extension of the street. To engage the community and the surrounding context, we created voids on both the interior and the exterior of the building that allow for porosity, air flow and penetration of light. On the ground floor, a light-filled vegetable garden connects to the popular pocket park across the street. This space welcomes residents and community members to mill about and visit the takeout restaurant and the art gallery. The defining structural grid was conceived by analyzing the façade of the existing commercial spaces across the street from the site. This allowed us to proportion our 101 units to the grid as modules and create integrated open spaces throughout the housing complex that foster community and active engagement opportunities, such as a community barbecue area, a kids’ play area and a social stair for outdoor movie nights. The project consists of a mixture of unit types – co-living units for foster youths, one- and two-story live/work units for young professionals, and 2- and 3-bedroom units for families.