Walking through the glass double doors of this gigantic metal structure feels like walking into a bomb shelter during an air raid. Also known as a quanza hut, in the military these structures are often used to house artillery and airplanes, and to provide housing for soldiers. This individual unit has been renovated to house an organization which provides a home for people with HIV/AIDS, provides case management to those in need, functions as a home base for outreach and education in the community and , and also a free testing sight.
The entire building is approximately the length of a football field and is sectioned off into four main parts, including an airy loft. Stepping into the structure is like stepping into a stone art gallery. The babbling water echoes throughout foyer, bouncing off of the ceilings, the tall white walls, and the shiny gray cement floor. An austere gray three tier fountain is surrounded by a pool of water, the pool surrounded by a Japanese style stone garden and a seating area. Across the room beside an olive green wall sits a tall plant with an oversized ottoman for sitting or lying next to a window. All of this culminates an energy that sings to the soul, letting one know that it is ok, there is grace, and that it is here.
Walking directly through the foyer would lead outside to a small patio nestled closely to a steep hill covered in trees and plants where birds and squirrels taunt the litter of kittens that live there. Immediately after the fountain though, a right turn leads to another glass door. This glass door leads to an arena like space called the great room. Here there is a recreation area for clients and visitors as well as offices for case managers and other various social services. An elegant arrangement of comfortable furniture and computers occupies the outer and back walls.
Upon entering the great room there is first a sitting area or lounge with soft comfortable black leather couches and chairs, several vases and modern temporary flower arrangements, a sharp flat screen television and a large glass desk with a computer. This room is comfortable and un-crowded, a hybrid of a home and an office in a carpeted arena that resonates with life in motion. Just as this space serves to ensure that life prevails over an illness, being in this structure is like being within a living organism.
