Valle Verde is a new 24-unit affordable family housing community near the heart of Napa. It was designed in conjunction with the neighboring Heritage House project, an adaptive reuse project designed by our office. The two properties – although serving different populations – are owned and managed by the same non-profit, and will share a site entrance, staff and elements of a shared community. It was important that the two properties complement one another on the site and in the community without compromising a more contemporary design for the new building.
Valle Verde was designed with constraints becoming opportunities. The property’s adjacency to a creek and the site slope, the large underground stormwater pipes under the site, the parking requirements, and the odd shape of the site as it related to Heritage House each contributed to the unique shape and layout. These constraints enabled natural through ventilation and light, as well as an ability for nearly all units to have a view of both the creek and the playground.
