Mandela House
In fall of 2025, we are working with Mandela House, an interim housing project for those experiencing homelessness. Located in West Oakland and adjacent to Emeryville, Mandela House currently provides 105 units of interim housing in a former Extended Stay America motel, with future plans to transition into permanent supportive housing. Through this, It plays a key role in Oakland’s broader strategy to rehouse individuals transitioning from encampments that the city is aggressively closing. Issues of dignity, the right to housing, affordability and equity are all central to this project. Our efforts this semester will be focused on designing and building a vibrant communal space for the residents of Mandela House. In partnership with current residents, students will create, iterate and build a design that ensures their needs, histories, and visions. This work will be complemented through investigations into the activist past of the Prescott Neighborhood/Wood Street and the structural inequities present.
A collaboration between:
︎︎︎HCEB
︎︎︎MPI Homes
︎︎︎Mesh DBS
