Community Health Housing explores how architectural design and collaborative ownership models can actively support mental well-being. Rather than responding solely to acute mental health crises, it seeks to create preventive living environments that address everyday mental stressors—such as social isolation, eviction anxiety, and challenging family dynamics—before they escalate. Situated next to White Memorial Hospital in Boyle Heights, the project extends mental health infrastructure by providing access to outpatient care, wellness programs, and preventative services. Beyond healthcare, Community Health Housingensures long-term affordability, housing stability, and resident participation through a limited equity cooperative model. Financed through a mix of public funding, non-profit and charitable contributions, and resident shares, the project also includes a solidarity fund to support inhabitants facing temporary financial hardship. The development is built around community cores and shared spaces at multiple scales—outdoor gardens, collective living rooms, semi-private terraces, and shared kitchens—designed to foster social connection and collective activity. The Community Health Housing Activity Fund empowers residents to use these spaces for personal and communal initiatives like gardening, woodworking, or music-making. Finally, the project introduces a modular, flexible layout system that accommodates diverse living arrangements—from nuclear and multigenerational families to chosen families, communes, and co-living groups. By embracing this architectural adaptability, Community Health Housing envisions an architecture of well-being that responds to the complex realities of urban life and reduces the everyday pressures that impact mental health.
COMMUNITY HEALTH HOUSING: From Mental Health Architecture to Architecture of Well-Being
