With the New Year fast upon us, it feels almost premature to put 2022 in the rearview mirror. This year has moved at lightning speed with tremendous energy, and it seems there is still much unfinished business as it draws to a close. The economic impacts of the pandemic have affected people’s lives almost as much as the pandemic itself. Autonomy has been challenged and yet people have risen up with strength and determination. We see the nation try to right its path while addressing the needs of its people and acknowledging the pain felt by so many.

In many ways, our work at Gunkel Architecture over this last year has been impacted by these greater challenges at play. The quests for housing, community, and wellbeing have been the driving forces behind many of our projects.

It has been exciting to see three of our permanent supportive housing developments move into construction in 2022 after years of planning and preparation, much of which occurred during the height of the pandemic. Vineyard in Livermore will provide 24 units of housing, a resource center for the Tri-Valley area’s unhoused, and a food service kitchen that prepares free meals for community members experiencing food insecurity. Two projects in Napa, Heritage House and Valle Verde, will soon provide homes for some of the County’s most vulnerable citizens. These buildings combined will offer 90 affordable apartments through a combination of adaptive reuse and new construction, thanks to the determination and collaboration of Burbank Housing, Gasser Foundation, and Abode Services.

In addition to our projects under construction, we have begun work on many new, inspiring designs addressing the need for housing affordability. We are working with Homeless Action Sonoma on a multi-phased development that includes 20 temporary prefab shelters (currently being placed on site), 40 units of permanent supportive housing, a 24-bed shelter, community food garden and a teaching kitchen and restaurant to be managed by the residents. Our team recently started work with Jamboree Housing and DHI on Longview Apartments, a 65-unit permanent supportive housing development in Sacramento, CA.

In turbulent times, the empowering support of community is more important than ever. And we’ve certainly seen this emphasized in our work over the past year. 2022 started with a series of four interactive design workshops for Mission Peak Village, a new 32-unit cohousing community in Fremont. The project is currently moving through entitlements, as is University Cohousing, in San Jose, which utilizes recently passed legislation that incentivizes urban infill development where property owners live on site. We’ve also begun working with the Berkeley Moshav community to see their 36-unit cohousing community through fruition.

Of course, wellbeing is not only about supportive housing and community. We have been working with Open Heart Kitchen (OHK) on another project type that is of vital importance, food justice facilities. In addition to OHK’s food service kitchen at Vineyard that prepares free meals for community members experiencing food insecurity, we have also been working with them to design a much-needed food bank in Livermore. OHK will be a redistribution partner for Alameda County Food Bank, allowing them to further their mission to provide equitable access to nutritious food today while building a food-secure tomorrow.

Day of Service with Housing Consortium of the East Bay

Gunkel Architecture staff and families also had the pleasure of combining forces with Housing Consortium of the East Bay on a day of service. We received many generous donations that enabled us to provide 39 disadvantaged households in need with a basket of home goods (including much appreciated warm blankets) and a free hot meal from the Understory Restaurant.

We are looking forward to 2023 and are reminded how important it is to acknowledge how grateful we are for the inspiring work of our clients and staff. As a firm committed to finding solutions to our housing crisis, food justice, and helping empower communities, we are humbled and motivated by the trust that is put in our team by folks tackling these critical issues. We wish you all a New Year of wellbeing, strong community, empowerment, and peace.