An Artful, Modern Oasis in the City

Photos: Olivier Koning

A sunny yellow cube pops out of the quirky, colorful facade at the Nohona Hale building. The affordable condominium complex is in the vibrant Kakaako neighborhood, just steps from Downtown, where its apartments fit right in with the area’s kaleidoscopic motif.

Nohona Hale’s “architecture and interior design was derived by studying the urban fabric and people of Kakaako 100 years ago — a diverse group of lei makers, coin divers, shop owners, and iron- and dockworkers,” says Jon Lee, project architect at WCIT.

WCIT is a local architecture firm with experience in community-based design and development. For Nohona Hale, the project team was tasked with transforming a 9,660-square-foot lot owned by the Hawaii Community Development Authority. The relatively small lot originally contained a community garden and 18 parking stalls, which WCIT and its project partners turned into a building with 111 of Hawaii’s first micro-unit affordable apartments for residents earning between 30% and 60% of the local median income.

Nohona Hale is a unique building with 111 micro-unit affordable apartments. An indoor-outdoor lounge area is housed in a large yellow box frame extending out from the frontage.

Nohona Hale’s exterior was designed to be inviting, its large entry doors and warm, colorful facade welcoming passersby, residents and guests. A walk through the lobby leads to a secret garden in the back, which serves as a nod to the original property.

Thoughtful details imbue every corner of the property. The building’s focal point is the large yellow box frame extending out from the frontage; it houses an indoor-outdoor space where residents can relax and socialize. The space is “reminiscent of the kind of balconies and second-floor rooftop gathering spaces that populated the Kakaako neighborhood in the 1920s,” says Lee.

Each residential unit contains a 70-square-foot lanai with a screen built into the corners for shade and privacy. The screen design features an abstract street map of 1920s Kakaako. Local muralist Solomon Enos extends the concept to the building’s interior, with hand-painted murals in common areas and community recreation spaces.

Residential apartments feature a 70-square-foot lanai with a screen designed in the motif of an abstract 1920s Kakaako map.

Local artist Solomon Enos extended the Kakaako map theme with hand-painted murals in communal recreation spaces.

“Custom wall coverings describe the Kakaako shoreline, industry and community of the 1820s, 1920s and 2020s. In fact, viewing the custom paint pattern of the building’s Ewa façade reveals a coastline profile of Kakaako over time,” says Lee. Natural elements of wood, color, textures and light harmonize to create a rejuvenating haven from the busy streets below.

For a small space in the city, Nohona Hale packs plenty of positives for the community. The property was the first of its kind in the affordable housing sector to be certified as a LEED Gold project. This distinction is awarded to buildings that meet stringent criteria for sustainable design. At Nohona Hale, heavy curtains, shade screens and lanai flooring cut back on solar heat gain and reduce the need for air conditioning, and photovoltaic panels provide power in common areas.

Rainwater catchment systems capture and repurpose rainwater for on-site irrigation. And each unit has LED light fixtures, Energy Star appliances, low-flow plumbing fixtures, and ample amounts of glass sliding doors that let in light and provide natural ventilation, explains Lee. Solar panels on the building’s roof heat water for residential use.

This article appears in the August 2024 issue of Hawaii Home + Remodeling.

Categories: Condos, From Our Magazine

Tags: Affordable Housing, apartments, condo living, Condominium, exterior design, honolulu condo, Nohona Hale, WCIT