MY TRAN STUDIO

The existing Kapālama Kai is a community already rich with industry and ingenuity that will continue to thrive as the area develops and adapts for the future. Planning and design will take cues from this layered history to realize the full potential of the project. ‘Ōlauniu Kapālama Kai will be the heart of the Kapālama neighborhood and the broader Kalihi region. Inspired by the dense, mixed-use neighborhoods of great walkable cities, our concept envisions a porous site that fosters community. Paths, views, and open spaces are organized to collect and connect people with one another while stringing together the continuum of this place—mountains with water, schools with gardens, transit with food, one part of the neighborhood with another.

 

The existing site, previously called Dillingham Plaza, currently presents visitors with a binary experience: you’re either shopping or not, inside or out, on one side of the wall or the other. We propose repositioning the site to offer a layered and deeply connected experience and sense of place—one that transforms the site from a place of transaction to one of civic engagement. Currently, the site is delineated from the street and the neighborhood with a long wall. What happens when we open up the wall along Dillingham and reconfigure the buildings to make the site more porous and welcoming? What happens when we introduce open green space to serve the site’s central organizing feature?

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This urban design strategy begins to reveal the possibilities of your program, which calls for a diverse mix of offerings that will draw people to and through ‘Ōlauniu Kapālama Kai.We’ve taken your program and imbued it with specificity to imagine the possibilities of the site as aligned with Kamehameha Schools’ mission and values. For example, “Food Systems,” might include a rooftop farm, school garden, farmer’s market, and host of other neighborhood resources. This specificity is provided to give you a sense of what we think would make this site a welcoming draw for all—a globally competitive place that advances resilient communities. With ‘aina and culture as the foundation, three key design drivers begin to inform this community hub that celebrates and makes manifest Kamehameha Schools’ values while promoting civic engagement:

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+ Mixed-Use Urban Design: Strong Connections + Vibrant Public Realm

+ Diverse Program: Globally Competitive + Culturally Relevant

+ Environmental Performance: Symbiotic Health of People and Planet

 

Our concept imagines the site as a vibrant community hub defined by the different offerings, surprise moments, and sense of balance between people, land, and the built environment that we experience in the most vibrant of cities. This approach helps realize a balanced mix of impact across Kamehameha Schools’ five values—economic, education, cultural, community, and environmental—to achieve a thriving lāhui with Keiki at the center.