Carleton Hart Architecture, as it states on its website, “focuses on projects that are community-based and people-oriented.” Certainly, the firm’s latest project fits the bill.

The Dorothy Lemelson House is due to open this summer in the Portsmouth neighborhood, in North Portland. The building features 10 studio apartments and five one-bedroom units to house one resident adviser and former foster youths who are at least 18 years old and have aged out of the foster system. Residents will have access to education and job training through the New Meadows program run by nonprofit New Avenues for Youth.

“We’ve always described ourselves as a mission-driven firm,” Carleton Hart Architecture principal Brian Carleton said. “We really wanted the firm to stand for something, and I think what we found as a firm is that working with nonprofits and working in the community development sector, we had a chance to get more deeply involved than just designing buildings. It became a really satisfying way to practice architecture.”

Walsh Construction served as the general contractor for the Lemelson House, which is less than a block away from the Bridge Meadows multigenerational living community that opened in 2011. A ceremonial opening for the new development took place last month.

Designing a multifamily structure that would fit the neighborhood both aesthetically and practically was one of the biggest challenge for the team.

“From our perspective as a designer, having worked with Bridge Meadows we understood how as an organization they have figured out or really are getting the hang of building a community,” said Corey Morris, a senior associate at Carleton Hart.

And when it came to physical design, the first Bridge Meadows development provided a great model for the entire Lemelson House project team.

“They have clear picture of how they’re going to pull their community over a block and a half,” Morris said. “We knew what Bridge Meadows wanted in their built environment.”

Bridge Meadows Executive Director Derenda Schubert said the project would not have turned out the same without input from the people who will use the Lemelson House.

“We held an event where we asked the young people to tell us, ‘OK, if we built this, what would you like it to look like?’” Schubert said. “There were about 30 kids present and they gave a lot of input into the design of the building and how they wanted it to feel.”

Unlike the original Bridge Meadows, which features a complex of two- and three-unit structures in a cohesive village, the Lemelson House is a single, two-story building that mixes dormitory and apartment complex elements. The building’s side that faces North Dana Avenue is designed to resemble a series of distinctly separate townhomes, giving each unit its own doorstep.

“We were struck by the diversity, this range of feedback from the kids,” Carleton said. “One or two were parents and were maturing very rapidly. These are smart kids that obviously are going to find a way to succeed in life, and that’s where the one-bedroom units came in.”

Then there are the kids looking for more of a collective environment like one might find in a university setting.

“They want the social network – a really safe place to be while you get your feet underneath you,” Carleton said.

Meanwhile, the front of the structure is more cohesive, like a traditional apartment building, and features a large main entrance that, in effect, forces residents to socialize at least some of the time.

“That partly started as a request from the neighbors to make sure it felt single-family-home connected,” Morris said. “On the flip side, the other side of the building is more cohesive and provides the entrance with the idea that all 15-plus residents, we want them to have a sort of forced community. We give them a front door, the mail is there, a community kitchen. There’s that support there.”

The design, Schubert added, would not have been complete without contributions from Dorothy Lemelson herself, a noted designer and founder of the charitable foundation bearing her name.

“We also had the voice of Mrs. Lemelson at the table,” Schubert said. “She was giving us suggestions about not only colors, but the architectural design, the windows and where to put the windows. She’s also an elder, so I love that the perspective of both professional designer and an elder will be a part of the young people’s lives.”

Funding for the $3.7 million project came from many sources, both public and private. A few are Oregon Housing and Community Services, the Portland Housing Bureau and the Dorothy Lemelson Charitable Foundation.

“It’s not a typical affordable housing project,” Schubert said. “It’s a program for a specific population. It’s an innovative idea and that takes courage for some people to invest in.”

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