sunset apartments

time : 2025

place : atlanta, ga

process : the watershed; pedestrian connectivity; universal access;

completed for : Westside Future Fund

collaborators : eightvillage, Carter Harkleroad Group

Sunset Apartments is an intergenerational affordable housing project in the English Avenue neighborhood of Atlanta. We first began this project in 2022 with an ecological narrative sensitive to the site’s location within the greater watershed of this neighborhood- long neglected and victim to a rising flood plain. An unmarked, 12’ diameter sewer line bifurcating the property was discovered well into the design phase of the project. Made of brick, and over a century in age, the sewer and easement have dominated the design discussions- calling for a complete redesign of the architecture and the landscape. The landscape narrative has evolved into a broader conversation of connectivity- using the project site and the addition of two adjacent properties on Griffin Street to break up the block and provide a public, universally accessible path through the site inviting all to experience the neighborhood’s low point- exposing, and controlling the storm water course to tell a story of natural systems and how we may harness these systems to create beautiful, functional landscapes.