Vista Village for Vista Del Mar

A renovation of a family support and early childhood education building operated by Vista Del Mar Child and Family Services’ Head Start program along Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles, Vista Village (formerly Home-SAFE Early Head Start) exemplifies AUX’s commitment social impact design and strategic adaptation. The 7,300-square-foot facility provides childcare, counseling, and parent education for underserved children in the Los Angeles and Hollywood areas in an environment that must be nurturing, safe, and dignified. AUX’s challenge was to deliver a profound transformation with minimal means.

The existing campus consisted of two mismatched structures grafted together—one a commercial storefront, the other a truncated house. Unwelcoming interiors and a fragmented street presence undermined the program’s mission. Tasked with uniting these two vastly different existing buildings and constrained by the limited budget of a $350,000 grant federal grant, AUX’s design strategically uses pop graphics and a playful perforated aluminum screen system to visually connect the two structures and provide protection and privacy to the enclosed outdoor playground area.

AUX stripped back the buildings to the essentials, adding fresh paint to brighten the interiors and modest but meaningful upgrades—including new linoleum tile, durable carpeting, improved play surfaces, and a compact, cost-effective kitchen—support daily operations.

Security was also a pressing concern: the rear playground lacked adequate enclosure, and the recessed front entry invited loitering and overnight use. A new, aluminum screen system wraps the building providing safety, privacy, and identity in a single move. Custom sheet panels with a gradient polka-dot pattern enclose the playground and secure the entry while maintaining light and visibility; the size and location of perforations based on the programmatic demands of the project. In a no-waste strategy, the circular off-cuts from the perforated panels were reused as applied elements on the stucco façade. The pattern inverts across surfaces: voids in the metal screens become solid dots on the building, creating a cohesive graphic field.

The installation was a shared effort with fabricator Arktura, Vista Del Mar’s facilities staff, and the entire AUX studio team as volunteers. The result is a bright, secure, and joyful environment that demonstrates how targeted, lightweight interventions can generate lasting community impact.