Platt-Whitelaw Architects

Homeless

Designing Safe Sleeping Sites in San Diego’s East County

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Safe Parking Lots Will Offer Refuge

For our county’s unhoused citizens, sleeping can be dangerous. Will someone take your things? Will the weather make you suffer? Will someone do you harm? The list of worries goes on.

We’re proud to be working with the County of San Diego, along with prime contractor Michael Baker International and its GC partner Turner Construction Company, to provide Safe Sleeping Sites for people currently unsheltered and living in their cars.

Construction is starting soon at a safe parking site in Spring Valley. People living out of their cars can park there and stay the night, legally. The site will be secured and staffed, and occupants will be screened. These sites will provide people with the basic dignity of restrooms and showers.

A similar safe parking lot is planned for El Cajon. The lots will most likely open in mid-2024.

When designing these safe parking lot adaptations, we site the ingress/egress, fencing, services, administration buildings and security lighting and cameras. We’re also designing for ADA compliance. The parking lots need significant modifications, including pervious paving in some cases.

Coordinating the project for Platt/Whitelaw is James Mason, who said, “It’s very rewarding knowing that people in need will be secure and have a place to go to find a better situation.”

Collaborating with James on the project is our firm Principal Naveen Waney, AIA, and our intern Malie Little. Our fantastic roster of subconsultants includes Turpin & Rattan Engineering, Bender Dean Engineering, Petersen Structural Engineers (PSE) and Engineering Partners Inc. (EPI).

Give Me Shelter

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Pallet City in Chula Vista will provide temporary homes for more than 130 formerly unsheltered people

Community architecture is our jam, and that means architecture for everyone. We’re so pleased to work on a project that will provide individuals, couples and families – all of whom currently live without shelter – with temporary homes at Pallet City in Chula Vista, California.

At a recent groundbreaking ceremony, covered by CBS8, Chula Vista city officials, the building team and community members celebrated the start of construction for 66 pallet homes, also known as tiny homes, on city-owned land.

Located near Broadway and Main Street, the tiny-homes neighborhood, the first of its kind in San Diego County, will shelter more than 130 people and their pets starting this fall.

Residents at Pallet City will also have access to multi-purpose rooms, restrooms, showers and a laundry facility. On-site services will include job assistance, medical care and 24-hour security. Residents chosen for Pallet City are vetted through Chula Vista’s Homeless Outreach Team (HOT).

Originally envisioned as one large structure, Platt/Whitelaw Architects helped the city pivot during the pandemic to accommodate small, individual structures instead of one communal space. Working with prime contractor Kimley-Horn, Platt/Whitelaw managed site planning with support from electrical engineering consultant Turpin & Rattan and fire consultant Jensen Hughes.

This work included accessibility measures; layout of the units and property gates; hardware; signage; site lighting; electrical service upgrades; and fire suppression in each unit and common areas. Principal Naveen Waney led our team with assistance from Samantha Saltzman.

“We’re proud to be part of this creative effort to provide homes for San Diegans who have faced trials and tribulations that led them to live in a vehicle or on the street instead of in a home,” said Naveen. “By also coordinating on-site services, the City of Chula Vista is making an admirable effort to help some of its most vulnerable citizens to better their lives in a sustainable and dignified way.”

Samantha, who incorporated homeless shelter design into her study program when attending NewSchool of Architecture & Design, added, “It makes me all the more grateful to play a small role in seeing this project through. It’s nice to work on something that is adding resources and value to our community.”

Western Rim Constructors is performing the sitework, including the building pads and anchorages, while Pallet SPC is assembling the shelters for installation by Western Rim. Federal funding will cover the $3.5 million project, as well as the ongoing operations costs.