Jefferson Union High School District (JUHSD) – the lowest funded high school district in its county – loses roughly 25 percent of its staff each year. The region’s high living costs and ongoing housing shortage make it difficult for JUHSD to attract and retain teachers and staff. Intended to serve working families between 30 – 60 percent AMI, this development presents an innovative, holistic solution that fosters equitable, sustainable living to support JUHSD’s workforce while elevating the overall community.

Located adjacent to the existing school, the seven-story, mixed-use building features 126 all-affordable living units in a mixture of studios, one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments; parking; a childcare facility; mail room; a lounge; multiple open air spaces and a designated area for the Head Start program.

The project emphasizes sustainable elements to enhance the building’s performance as well as boost residential health and wellbeing. Utilizing modular building techniques provides several construction advantages from the outset, including a shorter timeline, higher quality materials, and reduced waste. The layout leverages passive heating and cooling strategies throughout the building. An ‘E’ shaped plan maximizes daylight in all the units and the Head Start program is positioned to ensure access to direct daylight for most of the day. Sunny outdoor spaces sheltered from prevailing winds deliver additional connections to natural elements.

Multiple entry points to the outdoor paths encourage walking and biking. An all-electric utility package takes advantage of California’s green energy grid. Solar PV panels further reduce off-site energy loads and contribute clean energy to the grid during non-peak hours. Several strategies are incorporated to reduce vehicle carbon emissions, such as car share accommodations to reduce ownership needs, ample bike storage, and additional EV charging stations to help meet the state-mandated goal of prohibiting fossil fuel vehicles by 2035.