Hismen Hin-nu Terrace

Location

Oakland , CA
United States
California US

These 92 town homes and apartments, for families and seniors with low and very low incomes, mend a deteriorating neighborhood by restoring its main boulevard with housing over shops. Family housing with a childcare center around quiet courtyards is built behind a ground-floor market, niches for street vendors, and a community center with job training, all of which contribute to economic development in the neighborhood. A multi-ethnic mix of tenants is depicted in exterior murals, frieze panels, decorative tiles, and steel entry gates in the form of a bust of sunshine. The sponsors and the architect wanted to recreate the older, denser pattern of mixed-use - two to three story buildings with retail below and housing above - as an example of good planning for future developers in the neighborhood. The architecture is an interpretation of Mission Revival Style, recalling the graceful three and four story apartment buildings in the neighborhood. Red tiled roofs, trellised balconies and warm colored stucco create a solid yet lively street front building along the main boulevard. Behind, in the quieter interior courtyards, vivid colors define the entries to family town homes clad in cool blue horizontal siding. Lush foliage overflows planters, softening the places where children play.

Dwelling Type: 
Low/Flat/Mix/Court
Number of Units: 
92
State: 
CALIFORNIA