The YWCA Empower Center is transitional housing for people experiencing homelessness on a site which had long been a public park.

The project, like most, began with the site. After neighborhood concerns eliminated the first location, local government placed the needed project on a city-owned parcel used as public green space. The site suited residents because it was close to services. It allowed the park to become a home, a refuge beyond the park benches.

The site presented many challenges, but also compelling opportunities. The program called for 24 efficiency apartments, offices, and a community room that could become a coffee shop serving an outdoor terrace.

The parti is simple: stacked units on three floors, with most apartments above for security and offices occupying much of the ground floor. The rectilinear plan follows the street grid, then shifts at the community spaces. There, the coffee shop and smoking deck align with the city grid that turns toward the Mississippi River three blocks away, expressing residents’ empowerment to make choices and participate in community life.

Materials reinforce the site narrative. The two public sides use brick and punched openings proportioned after the historic building across the street, renovated by the design team a decade earlier. The parking side shifts to metal siding with the same fenestration. The dark-to-light color change acknowledges the frugality of front and back, while corten steel at the coffee shop and smoking deck reinforces the narrative of inclusion and quietly honors the historic neighbor.

 

The park remains, but the public purpose has expanded.

 

Location: Clinton, Iowa
Program: Housing
Area:  17,000 Sq Ft
Client: HDG
Photo Credits: Integrated Studio