Hawaii Retirement Housing

This federally-sponsored project provides low-cost housing for senior citizens on Maui.  The design was preceded by extensive “user analysis” and programming conducted by Sim Van der Ryn.  Each family has its own with front and rear yards. The design is characterized by a series of small pavilions set in the landscape, providing residents the opportunity to design and construct their own public and private gardens, as well as providing communal bathing, open spaces, and parks of palm and banyan trees.  Having spent much of their lives in company towns, controlled and restricted by the sugarcane and pineapple agri-business, the planning allowed elderly residents to affirm their own traditions and customs.

This project received the AIA Award of Merit for Non-Profit Housing.