Windsor Gardens

Windsor Gardens is a direct response to the housing crisis in Halifax, with the goal of not only adding to the housing stock in the city, but doing so in a way that accommodates and supports a healthy mixture of housing types for a diversity of demographics, and supporting the broader community. Of the 8 sites that were given, we selected the Halifax Forum as we recognized its great potential and were excited by the possibilities it provided. The design responds to 3 primary goals which are as follows: 1. Rehabilitate the Halifax Forum and support its function as a critical piece of social infrastructure in the community and a natural gathering space. • The design is arranged as an L-Shaped plan that surrounds the entrance of the Forum and defines the boundary of a new public courtyard. the social infrastructure of the forum is extended by placing a new branch of the Halifax Public Library on the ground floors. Housing is placed on top of this to create a dense but pleasant mixed use community. 2. Respond to the current condition of the Halifax Forum as a poorly implemented homeless shelter by providing affordable housing with integrated support systems. • We recognize the housing continuum as a spectrum that all citizens fall within. The design attempts to provide a diversity of housing affordability options that could conceivably support individuals on the low end of this spectrum and bring them to stability. The South building provides supportive/transitional housing for individuals and families recovering from homelessness and other crises. The ground floor features office space for admin and support systems, and the on-site library ensures that residents have access to the support they need to succeed. The North building includes affordable rentals on the first 8 floors, and market-rate rentals on the upper floors. this ensures that there is a diversity of residents on site, and acts as a stepping stone for individuals in the supportive housing to progress along the housing continuum. 3. Demonstrate the capacity for underutilized land in Halifax to support new housing stock that can foster healthy and diverse communities. • The design proves that the site is capable of accommodating public green space, critical social infrastructure, parking (in a below grade structure accessible from the north), and in addition to all of that, 108 units of deeply affordable supportive housing units, 123 units of affordable rental units, and 98 market rental units. This is all accomplished while rehabilitating underutilized land in the city and giving it back to the community.