Yesterday non-profit firm Breaking Ground celebrated the opening of 1191 Boston Road, a project in the Bronx for formerly homeless New Yorkers, high users of Medicaid, seniors, and low-income adults. The scheme was financed by the New York State Medicaid Redesign Team which uses housing solutions to reduce healthcare costs.

Costing $47 million and accommodating 154 units, the design came from Manhattan-based Alexander Gorlin Architects. The firm has worked with Breaking Ground before with another project in the Bronx. Building on that project’s success (it won a Residential Architect award in 2014) the firm has continued to design supportive housing.  Social services are central to the building’s programming: the ground floor includes a job center, educational facilities, and a medical center. “By providing stable, affordable housing with on-site support, residents will live a better quality of life, and reduce costly emergency room visits,” Breaking Ground said in a press release.

Speaking with The Architect’s Newspaper, Alexander Gorlin said that zoning was a “priority” for the project. To facilitate the number of units that he and Breaking Ground wanted to create, the building had to be stepped back from the street. Its “animated facade” features an array of colors set against gray brickwork.

Other amenities offered in the building include a roof terrace, computer lab, bike storage facilities, fitness room, garden, and an on-site laundry area. On the ground floor, an undulating array of fiberboard panels can be found on the ceiling, a nod to the schist rock which used to found in the area.