🍊 Orange Pop! What's New at Amenta Emma

A new housing development in West Hartford, 540 New Park, replaces a blighted, abandoned and now-demolished auto parts store and contributes to solving the community’s affordable housing shortage. The project, which opened in December 2022, is fully occupied, attesting to the pent-up demand for such housing.

Photos: Robert Benson Photography

Amenta Emma designed the 52-unit mixed-use, multi-family, multi-generational building in partnership with Trout Brook Realty Advisors, a non-profit developer for the West Hartford Housing Authority (WHHA). It is a “sister” to an earlier project by the same team, 616 New Park, another highly successful Amenta Emma project. The new development is adjacent to the CTfastrak Busway, giving residents easy access to employment opportunities. It is in a strong public school district, and within walking distance of a grocery store, restaurants and the Trout Brook Bike Trail. Both projects have been instrumental in helping people realize this former industrial area is a great place to live.

Windows are in a repetitive, stacked pattern with playful accents resembling “shutters” helping to animate the façade.

The project is distinguished by a smart, simple design, including two separate volumes separated by a hallway. Sweeping “ribbons” of white bands highlight and organize the form, and warm wood accents give definition to the vertical element. Windows are in a repetitive, stacked pattern with playful accents resembling “shutters” helping to animate the façade. The glazed ground level accommodates a work-out area, a gathering area, and mixed-use space. Inside, pops of color assist with wayfinding, and a graphic sensibility, first used at 616, includes an entry mural by local commissioned artist Ben Keller.

The one- and two-bedroom units are priced both market rate and at rates attractive to a workforce earning at or below 60 percent of the area’s median income. The 1,500 square feet of retail space is occupied by Community Resources, Inc., which assists residents with long-term housing stability strategies.

Inside, pops of color assist with wayfinding, and a graphic sensibility, first used at 616, include an entry mural by local commissioned artist Ben Keller.

The $20 million project was financed with a complex package of tax credits, federal low-income housing credits, and funding from Connecticut’s Department of Housing and Housing Finance Authority. The team included architects, contractors, engineers, the town of West Hartford, environmental specialists and financial partners, including M&T Bank.

The lounge with comfortable seating, TV, and game table provides a welcoming place for gathering.

Amenta Emma worked diligently with the client, proving that a simple design can be dynamic with the thoughtful use of materials, and giving residents a place they are proud to call home.

“I love living here. From the staff to the residents, I feel very comfortable here with my kids. Our apartment is gorgeous, with all updated appliances and beautiful natural light coming from the huge windows. We’re right by the CTfastrak, and we’re smack in the middle of all the shopping I could possibly need. I’m especially pleased that my kids are in an amazing school district. We hope to stay here for a very long time." - 540 New Park Resident

Project Team: Trout Brook Realty Advisors, West Hartford Housing Authority, LaRosa Building Group, Thornton Tomasetti, Fuss & O'Neill, Inc., RZ Design Associates, Ritz Henton Design, Ben Keller, Robert Benson Photography

AE News

Fall '23 Teaching Firm in Residence at Roger Williams

Amenta Emma joins an amazing list of Teaching Firms in Residence at the Cummings School of Architecture at RWU. Team members Eric Weyant, Jeremy Jamilkowski, and Thomas Barker will be teaching the graduate-level design studio focused on multi-family housing this fall semester, with project sites in Martha's Vineyard and Boston.