The Southeast Asian Development Center is a nonprofit organization dedicated to lifting children, youth and families from Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam out of poverty. We created an open, inviting entry space for the SEADC’s Tenderloin Youth Center, which was once a visually opaque storefront in San Francisco's Tenderloin neighborhood. The new entryway breathes light and life into the front room of the Center, creating a space that warmly receives youth and accompanying family members. A playful dot-pattern fills the new entryway with color and fun, signaling a space made especially for children and their families.

Two new seating areas with potted palms and succulents flank the entry door, taking advantage of the sunlit storefront interior. Translucent dots on the windows interact with the afternoon light, creating a dynamic menagerie of shapes and colors on the front room's interior surfaces. Dual counter-height cabinets provide a sign-in area for youth drop-offs and a space for refreshments and information pamphlets, while also creating a threshold to the open and airy client-facing staff offices beyond.

In our work, we explore alternate versions of the ideas we're developing and use them to engage with our clients to collaboratively find the best schemes that manifest our clients' values. In addition to the dots concept, which was inspired by children's hand paintings from the Center's afterschool program, we created three alternative concept options for the project. The blue concept uses vibrant colors to create a new experience at the entryway of the Center, giving a sense of the front room being a transitional area. The tropical green concept brings plants, life, and lushness to the entryway and the neighborhood, mirroring the experience of walking through a jungle. The final concept uses reclaimed Teak, a tropical, dark-brown hardwood commonly used in Southeast Asian architecture and furniture. The warmth of the wood and the presence of jungle plants gives a sense of entering the front yard of a house in Southeast Asia, giving visitors and employees of the Center a feeling of coming home.

The SEADC Tenderloin Youth Center project was made possible by a generous grant made through the Tenderloin Community Benefit District.