Citation: Nest Tool Kit, a Modular Take on Affordable Housing

In 2016, Los Angeles voters passed a $1.2 billion bond to provide temporary or permanent shelter for up to 20 percent of the city’s 50,000 homeless people. But virtually nothing has been done, thanks to the city’s restrictive zoning laws and burdensome paperwork.

“One of the biggest problems is not just building additional housing, but getting it to market,” says Lawrence Scarpa, FAIA, whose local firm, Brooks + Scarpa, has been nationally recognized for its innovative designs of affordable housing. “There is a schism between what voters say they want, and what is actually happening.”

Rather than rail against red tape, Brooks + Scarpa and the Rialto, Calif.–based prefabricated housing manufacturer Plant Prefab developed Nest, a kit of mix-and-match affordable housing components that satisfy the city’s zoning rules.

Housing for the homeless is typically designed and built as one-off projects, often at a scale virtually guaranteed to draw opposition from neighbors, Scarpa says. With Nest, units can be built in large volume, but dispersed in small numbers across a wider swath of land, minimizing the risk for NIMBY backlash.

Nest’s basic units include residential modules such as dorm-style rooms, studio apartments, and single-family units, as well as service modules such as kitchens, shared bath and shower rooms, and common areas. Combined, the modules offer a variety of configurations suitable for different project types: a homeless shelter, a community center, an apartment building. The modules are sized to fit on the 50-foot-by-150-foot lots typical to L.A., and they are stackable up to five stories, with a variety of prefab exterior finishes to create a unified aesthetic.

Each module can be outfitted off-site with its own power generation and water collection systems, so the facilities can be self-sufficient and independent of many city utilities. As a result, a Nest project requires minimal paperwork, Scarpa says. “We took all the codes and worked between them.”

That level of deep analysis impressed the jurors. James Garrett Jr., AIA, found Nest to be “well thought out and something that could be the start of the next thing.”

Earlier this year, Brooks + Scarpa won a $1 million grant from Los Angeles County to develop a Nest prototype on an empty lot. If it meets expectations, expect to see more construction using Nest kits, says Plant Prefab founder and CEO Steve Glenn: “With Nest, we can actually get stuff out there.”

Project Credits
Project: Nest Tool Kit
Architect: Brooks + Scarpa, Hawthorne, Calif.
Project Team: Brooks + Scarpa . Angela Brooks, FAIA, Lawrence Scarpa, FAIA, Arty Vartanyan, Assoc. AIA, Heather Akers, AIA, Pieter Conradie, Assoc. AIA, Micaela Danko, Jennifer Doublet, George Faber, Jeffrey Huber, AIA, Dionicio Ichillumpa, Iliya Muzychuk, Calder Scarpa, Eleftheria Stavridi, Fui Srivikorn, Yimin Wu; Plant Prefab . Amy Sims, Steve Glenn; Community Corp. . Tara Barauskas, Jesus Hernandez
Architect of Record: Brooks + Scarpa with Living Homes
Technical Production and Fabrication: Living Homes, Plant Prefab
Interior Designer: Brooks + Scarpa
Structural Engineer: John Labib + Associates . Fabio Zangoli
M/E/P Engineer: Breen Engineering
Construction Manager: Plant Prefab
General Contractor/Fabricator: Plant Prefab
Lighting Designer: Brooks + Scarpa

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