Westport House
Kansas City, Missouri		   View All Projects
In an older deteriorating neighborhood adjacent to a busy traffic way, on the grounds of a school building being converted to a community center, develop ninety units of HUD Section 8 housing for the elderly within a modest construction budget.  The building's small footprint responds to the limited site and the need for green space, while the building's multi-faceted form relates to colliding street grids and surrounding building juxtapositions.  The wedge shaped apartment units produce a central foyer space with less floor area than a typical double‑loaded corridor, responding to tight budget constraints.  Elimination of one wedge allows natural light to fill the building's center and provides a dramatic view from each elevator/foyer area.  Taking advantage of the building's height, striking views and cool breezes, laundry room and solarium are located on the eleventh floor around a roof terrace thus producing a penthouse image of high quality.

On the ground floor, the primary social space with it's rustic fireplace and chimney is expressed in a "community house" visible from upper level foyers, and outdoor activity areas.


Intentional variety and willful idiosyncrasies produce a building with striking sculptural change from every angle of view during both day and night.  The chimney recalls personalized stacks on local mansions.  
The weathervane, another residential reference with it's butterfly to symbolize rebirth for the elderly residents, has been adopted by the surrounding neighborhood to represent its uplifted spirit.  The glazed brick mural borrows the stone garland and cornice motifs from the adjacent community center, adds geometric patterns recalling the old building's forms, and color coding to reinforce architectural elements; but its most remarkable quality, coming from the subtle variation of texture that varies its visibility in changing solar conditions, is its ability to dematerialize before your eyes changing from fiery silhouette to decorative pattern to plain wall surface.