This 63-unit housing apartment project for the elderly is at the northern edge of the Heights in Houston. The site is spacious, heavily wooded, laying undisturbed for decades. In order to retain a majority of the trees for landscaping, the building was set on a 45-degree angle. There were many reasons for this positioning, but the most important were: 1.) It splits the cooling load fairly equally for residents on both sides of the hall; and 2.) It creates wonderful vistas both of the building itself and from within the units looking out onto the site and surrounding areas. As in other projects of this type, we used split air conditioning systems and put the condensers on the roof in order to reduce noise.

This HUD-funded project has been fully occupied since it opened in 2003. Residents have formed sub-communities on each floor, furnishing the upper floor lobbies themselves in a living/activity room style, and planning evening activities together. The large community room is heavily used for group activities such as entertainment, exercise, bingo and celebrations.