Michael Maltzan Architecture's third project for the Skid Row Housing Trust will connect to its urban context in a variety of ways. For example, the now-under-construction 95,000-square-foot building will incorporate an existing one-story structure slated to house shops and support services for both residents and the larger community. Above this podium, prefabricated apartments will be stacked to define recreational spaces and courtyards, making it the first modularly constructed, multiunit residential building in Los Angeles.

ARCHITECT: Michael Maltzan Architecture

BUDGET: $19.3 million

CONTEXT: When completed in 2013, Star will add 102 apartments to the approximately 1,300 residential units managed by the Skid Row Housing Trust. The organization provides housing for people who might otherwise live on the streets of Los Angeles's Skid Row'a neighborhood with one of the largest concentrations of homeless people in the country.