2009 AIA HOUSING AWARDS
The Bridge
Homeless Assistance Center
Dallas. TX
The Bridge Homeless Assistance Center, located in downtown Dallas, has received two prestigious national awards for its design: the American Institute of Architects’ (AIA) 2009 AIA National Housing Award and the AIA/Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Award. San Antonio-based Overland Partners Architects, in conjunction with Dallas-based CamargoCopeland Architects, provided architectural services for the center.
Completed in May 2008 and commonly known as “The Bridge,” the multi-purpose facility is dedicated to providing safe haven and social services for more than 6,000 homeless people in Dallas, empowering both the chronic and newly homeless to come off the streets and sustain permanent housing in order to live productively. Unlike traditional homeless assistance facilities that resemble dark warehouses and gymnasiums, The Bridge features translucent walls that allow natural light to flood into residential areas, glass art created by Gordon Huether was selected to design and fabricate a site-specific artwork for The Bridge. Huether created seven art glass windows that feature mouth-blown glass and etched, silk-screened text from writings bysome of the shelter’s clients. panels inscribed with poetry written by the homeless.
“With our design, we aimed to not only create a facility that provides the most basic human need, shelter, but to also create a space that encourages and welcomes outside organizations, volunteers and donors to provide the helping hands that our homeless population needs,” said Rick Archer, FAIA, LEED-AP, founding principal of Overland Partners. “Since the doors to The Bridge opened, the center has been more successful than anyone anticipated. It has been widely accepted by homeless people, and the facility, which was designed for 400, now handles up to 1,000 people a day.”
As described by the jury for the AIA 2009 Housing Awards, “a publicly-selected artist worked with homeless, superimposing their writings over brightly colored glass – a metaphor for the spectrum of humanity. Facing downtown, The Bridge is a gift to the community, a magnet for the homeless, and a source of inspiration. It proves that shelters should not be isolated, but an integrated part of our community; they are valuable civic buildings representing the compassion of our society.”
A vegetative roof floats above the dining room. The indoor/outdoor eating area acts an extension of the courtyard.
The success of The Bridge is tangible as well. The surrounding neighborhood is revitalizing, downtown crime has dropped since it opened, and complaints about homeless people from business owners in the central business district have decreased. Center operators also say they have reduced the need for hospitalizations, jail bookings and arrests.