Ballona Creek Affordable Housing

In a region with high rents and a competitive real estate market, Ballona Creek Affordable Housing is a refuge for artists and creative professionals. This 100-percent affordable development advances AUX’s ongoing investigation into how to design for economy, density, and community.

Adjacent to Ballona Creek, this project includes 80 one-, two-, and three-bedroom units atop an amenity-rich ground floor and podium. Terraces, gardens, and community spaces knit the 120,600-square-foot building into the urban and natural context as a piece of cultural infrastructure.

Working within a lean per-unit budget, AUX developed a design that combines clarity of structure with strategic generosity. A concrete podium supports wood-frame construction above. The plan is organized around an efficient double-loaded corridor that minimizes circulation ensuring that the maximum possible square footage is dedicated to living space.

The building’s unique structural engineering strategy allows for more formal variation than a conventional shear wall solution. Structural shear walls are set back from the edge of the building envelope, which created the opportunity for a lively rhythm of balconies to pattern the facade. Integrated planting boxes at each balcony provide residents with space for small gardens—bringing greenery and individuation to the exterior expression.

Ballona Creek Affordable Housing’s community life centers on the podium rooftop, which features an elevated communal garden and patio. Gathering spaces, rehearsal rooms, and flexible creative studios open directly onto this landscape, connecting residents to each other and the surrounding neighborhood.

The project also gestures to the urban fabric. Along the east edge of the site, the podium pulls back to create a publicly accessible parkway that links the street to Ballona Creek. As the creek corridor continues to evolve with green infrastructure and pedestrian access, the building will serve as a connective node—helping stitch together creative residents and neighbors to an emerging open space.