Laurel Gardens provides 30 affordable housing units for individuals with mental health disabilities in Fairfield, California. Surrounded by highways and undistinguished apartment complexes, and located on a relatively flat site, this project turns inward to a series of landscaped courts that offer peaceful outlooks to every unit.

Mindful of cost, the building forms are simple with residential gabled roofs and open arcades linking the apartments and the community spaces; excitement comes from the play of materials and colors: common areas—the passages, the community room, the stair towers—are sheathed in horizontal siding painted red-brown, living areas are housed in a warm gold stucco, while private outdoor spaces are defined by closely spaced horizontal boards stained olive green.