Location: Kapa'a, Kaua'i, Hawai'i

Year: 2023

Commissioned by Kaua‘i Federal Credit Union, the Economic Resiliency Center is programmed to serve the Garden Island’s
growing population at the coastal town of Kapa‘a and its neighboring communities. The basis of the ERC’s design is to create a state-of-the-art facility for economic, social and physical resilience and environmental sustainability. This unique and prominent site is located between the Kuhio Highway and a multimodal pathway that fronts the Pacific Ocean. DSA’s design concept is to emphasize the mauka (mountain) to makai (ocean) connectivity from the street to the shoreline by creating a south-facing promenade and grand portal that passes through the ERC structure. Programmatically, this 3-level structure includes a KFCU branch, a community room, tenant and co-working spaces, shipping container housing, roof top terrace, and edible gardens. As a living building, the ERC is designed to capture solar energy, harvest and reuse rainwater, and be built with heavy timber and wood trusses from the former building that once occupied this property.