Kingsborough Senior Housing
Kingsborough Senior Housing responds to the urgent need for dignified, affordable senior housing in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, where many older residents face the risks of displacement and social isolation.
Developed in partnership with CAMBA Housing Ventures and Marvel Architects, the project is designed to empower seniors to age in place with dignity, safety, and fulfillment. Built on underutilized land within the Kingsborough NYCHA campus, it will provide 244 deeply affordable homes that promote independence while fostering community, wellness, and connection.
The project is conceived as three intentionally scaled residential volumes connected by circulation spaces with abundant natural ventilation and daylight. This massing reduces corridor lengths, enhances cross-ventilation and views, and creates smaller “neighborhoods” that encourage social interaction. At the ground floor, trauma-informed community spaces provide supportive services, demonstrating how housing can meet immediate needs while strengthening long-term neighborhood health and resilience.
Indoor-outdoor communal areas are central to the design, offering spaces that balance autonomy and connection. Shared amenities include a library with city views, a computer room, a fitness center, multipurpose rooms, rooftop decks, and a network of terraces—including a large outdoor loop, activity area, and winter garden.
The buildings’ design echoes and updates the language of the adjacent Kingsborough Extension and surrounding NYCHA structures, ensuring contextual continuity while offering a modern interpretation of social housing. Programmatic and circulatory connections to the Kingsborough Extension seniors building encourage access and engagement between residents of both buildings. Split-level conditions at the ground floor, Elevated Terrace, and Level 2 Terrace create visual and physical connections, offering buffer zones for privacy and security alongside opportunities for curiosity, exploration, and playfulness.
Starr Whitehouse
Sustainability and wellness are deeply embedded in the project. Kingsborough Senior Housing is pursuing Passive House, Enterprise Green Communities 2020, WELL, and Fitwel certifications, setting a new benchmark for healthy, high-performance housing in Brooklyn. The site design integrates nature into everyday life, offering 37,500 square feet of outdoor space across ground-level gardens, upper terraces, and rooftops. Landscaped areas draw from the park-like vision of the original NYCHA campus, enriched with diverse plantings, lighting, and furnishings.
Starr Whitehouse
Starr Whitehouse
Starr Whitehouse
Starr Whitehouse
By combining affordable housing with supportive services, restorative landscapes, and sustainable performance, Kingsborough Senior Housing redefines what senior living can be—an inclusive, connected community where residents can age with dignity, security, and joy.
