Victory Village is an idyllic 54-unit senior housing complex nestled in the foothills of Fairfax, California. It was the first affordable housing project constructed in the city in decades, and welcomed low-income senior residents during 2020, at the height of the COVID pandemic. To address community concerns, the building’s mass was minimized by stepping up from the Sir Francis Drake Boulevard, toward the rolling hills behind. A color palette of greens and yellows helped the building to blend softly into the surrounding landscape of oak trees, while a large bio retention pond at the front added additional landscape to absorb and slow stormwater runoff from the site. A greywater system also provides passive irrigation for the landscape. Two courtyards provide open space including a large central area with community planter beds.

Victory Village was completed at Van Meter Williams Pollack (VMWP), with RCD Housing

Renderings by Jeffrey Michael George. Photography by Ken Gutmaker.