NHA Campus Redevelopment

Having made do for 30 years operating their non-profit and family shelter out of three single family houses, Northwest Housing Alternatives (NHA) was in need of suitable facilities to support their work of providing much needed affordable housing. MWA worked with NHA to develop a master plan for their property in Milwaukie. The new campus provides a development and management office, an eight unit family shelter, and 28 multifamily affordable housing units, ranging between one and three bedrooms.

Amenities include a resident community room, resident services and property management spaces, on-site parking, outdoor terrace, and playground.

Project Contact: Bill Lanning, AIA

The family shelter is located at the heart of the campus and was developed in conjunction with shelter management, and guided by trauma informed design. MWA was sensitive to the need to provide a temporary home for some of the community’s most vulnerable families within a protected environment.

The office building is designed to be Net-Zero for energy consumption

Designed with a variety of spaces, the office building negotiates the sloping site with a light-filled split level that facilitates the informal building of community.

Family housing units share the central courtyard with the shelter and the new office headquarters. Sightlines between units and buildings were carefully managed on this tight site in order to create an intimate campus.

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