Reuse of a school complex for public housing / Completion 1988

Located in central Harlem, P.S. 139 is home for 125 units of senior housing, a community center and garden.  The design / build team was selected in a competitive RFP process based on maximum design value and lowest guaranteed construction cost.  Key elements in the design were removal of a two-story auditorium and gym extension at the center of the complex to create an enlarged interior courtyard, and the development of a landscape plan to unify the site and reuse the former playground as a community garden.

The design has received recognition through the 1989 AIA New York Chapter Affordable Housing Exhibition at the Urban Center, and is the recipient of a 1992 National Award of Merit from the National Association of Housing & Redevelopment Officials.