Exterior photo on a sunny morning from Jefferson avenue of the new doorways campus in St. Louis Missouri by Arbolope Studio.

Doorways Housing Headquarters

St. Louis, MO — Doorways Housing

CREATE A MULTIUSE ENVIRONMENT FOR EVERY DAY USE

CREATE LEVELS OF SEPARATION BETWEEN PRIVATE AND PUBLIC OUTDOOR SPACES

EXTEND DAILY LIVING INTO THE OUTDOORS THROUGH CIRCULATION & OUTDOOR ROOMS

MANAGE STORMWATER THROUGH A NETWORK OF BIOSWALES

SUPPORT EVERYDAY LIFE, HEALTH, AND DIGNITY

UTILIZE PLANTINGS AS A MEANS OF SUPPORTING PASSIVE BUILDING ENERGY MANAGEMENT

CLIENT

Doorways Housing

TYPOLOGY

Campus, Civic, Mixed-Use, Planning

LOCATION

St. Louis, MO

STATUS

Built 2023

SIZE

3 acres

SERVICES

Campus Planning

Landscape Architecture

Green Roof Design

Sustainability Consulting

COLLABORATORS

Trivers — St. Louis, MO

For those living with HIV/AIDS, a stable home is the top predictor of health outcomes. DOORWAYS is an not-for-profit that provides housing and related support services to people affected by the disease. Through emergency and long-term housing programs, DOORWAYS restores dignity, health, and self-sufficiency to their clients.

Arbolope provided site design for their new campus just north of downtown St. Louis, which includes 14,000 square feet of integrated program and administrative spaces, as well as new transitional housing. With a focus on amenities that help clients transition from homelessness into permanent supportive housing, programming includes creative living arrangements as well as thoughtfully placed community spaces.

Arbolope’s campus design includes a number of bioswales and rain gardens that facilitate the collection and redistribution of water across the sloped site. An elegant bridge over the western rain garden even forms one of the key arrival experiences of the property, directing people from the parking lot to the reception desk.

A play structure, as well as small bosques of decomposed granite, pavers, and trees, create intimate “rooms” for play, gathering, and conversation.