Step Up on 5th by John Linden, courtesy of Brooks + Scarpa

The firm of Brooks + Scarpa makes its second appearance on the AIA list with Step Up on 5th, a mixed-use Santa Monica building containing 46 affordable permanent housing units, a non-profit art gallery on the ground floor, and space for providing services for the homeless and those with mental illnesses. As with Cherokee Studios, Brooks + Scarpa has fashioned an exterior of aluminum screens to maximize ventilation. Compared to the drab lighting and unappealing fixtures that have typically characterized subsidized housing, this appears to be a much more desirable place to live, and one with a smaller footprint at that.