Amid the global pandemic, the Hilda L. Solis Care First Village emerged in just 6 months as a bold, rapid-response answer to Los Angeles’s homelessness crisis. Housing and support services for 232 formerly unhoused residents are delivered within repurposed shipping containers transformed into vibrant, human-centered living spaces. Grounded in low-barrier access, trauma-informed care, and harm-reduction principles, the site fosters safety, dignity, and compassion. 

Our role was to extend that mission into the visual realm—creating storytelling that carried the same urgency and empathy as the project itself. We developed a color palette of diverse, welcoming tones that brought warmth and identity to the village. Applied across building exteriors, wayfinding, and shared spaces, the palette softens the container architecture’s modularity, unifying the site into a connected neighborhood of courtyards and communal areas.