Project
Lehrer Architects LA’s Aetna Street Bridge Home in Van Nuys offers an aggressive, timely template for ameliorating the 60,000 person homelessness/shelter crisis by transforming a ¼ acre parking lot into a 70-bed facility for vulnerable Angelenos. Its accelerated schedule and lean budget present a streamlined and efficient use of prefabricated, modular units to provide collective dining and gathering space, pet play area, assistance with accessing city services, showers, restrooms, laundry, pest control, and secure storage.

AETNA Bridge Home

Site Description
Summary of Project (Program, Impetus, Time Frame)

Lehrer Architects LA’s Aetna Street Bridge Home in Van Nuys offers an aggressive, timely template for ameliorating the 60,000 person homelessness/shelter crisis by transforming a ¼ acre parking lot into a 70-bed facility for vulnerable Angelenos. Its accelerated schedule and lean budget present a streamlined and efficient use of prefabricated, modular units to provide collective dining and gathering space, pet play area, assistance with accessing city services, showers, restrooms, laundry, pest control, and secure storage.

Mission
The Aetna Street Bridge home represents lightning-quick, inventive, efficient, and beautiful solutions to what seemed like an unsurmountable societal tragedy. This is a time in which this rare City is extending a hand to support vulnerable people. Aetna Bridge Home takes an intractable problem and models an elegant solution of safe, happy shelter.
Address
14333 Aetna Street, Van Nuys, California, 91401 (map it)
Site Area (SF and/or Acreage)
¼ acre
Previous Use
Parking lot

AETNA Bridge Home

Program and Area
Number of Units
70-bed facility
Avg # Bedrooms
70-bed facility
Program List by Name
N/A
Total Assignable Square Feet (ASF) of Building(s)
0
Total Gross Square Feet (GSF) of Building(s)
0

AETNA Bridge Home

Cost
Construction Cost
0
Project Cost per Unit
0

AETNA Bridge Home

Design and Construction Team
Architect
Lehrer Architects LA
Architect Website
Design Description
Working in conjunction with multiple city agencies, Lehrer Architects LA designed a plan of spatial character, color, and logistical efficiency. Arrival at the Aetna Bridge Home is signaled by a ground plane that peals away from sidewalk in a grassy green stripe, spilling up the sides of the buildings. The project contains a brilliant golden-yellow dining canopy that hosts gatherings under bright lights and warm lamps. The raised deck between buildings creates a place for engagement and obtaining services and support. The solar reflective paving cools the campus microclimate.

The reliance on state-preapproved modular buildings not only simplified permitting but also will allow for rapid deployment due to off-site fabrication and specialized excavation-free foundations. The dedicated attention of the design team and the cooperation of governmental agencies to quickly assess and communicate all relevant regulatory considerations allowed the design team to deliver a permit-ready document set before the winter holidays. Looking towards a day when the housing crisis is solved, the modular buildings can be quickly removed from the site for future projects.

AETNA Bridge Home

Development
Development Type
Public
Developer(s) and Website(s)
The work was done in conjunction with multiple city agencies.

AETNA Bridge Home

Operations
Operator(s) and Website(s)
The Salvation Army
Services Provided / Management & Staffing
The Salvation Army is the site’s service provider and will provide 3 meals a day, case management service, including housing, substance abuse and mental health assistance.
Annual Operating Expenses
0
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AETNA Bridge Home

Funding Source
HHH?
Not Sure