With Its Deep Wraparound Porches and Resilient Design, This South Carolina Senior Housing Project Aims for Comfort and Safety

Charleston, South Carolina, suffers no shortage of historical precedents—and a new affordable housing project for seniors there takes cues from many. For starters, there’s its architects’ guiding inspiration: A plaque on the William Enston Home, designed in 1887 as the city’s first affordable senior housing, provided the mantra “To Make Old Age Comfortable.”

“That was our mission,” says Daniel Simons, principal at David Baker Architects, which, in 2013, was persuaded by local architect Eddie Bello to collaborate on the development, called Williams Terrace. Bello was working for McMillan Pazdan Smith Architecture, and had served for ten years as an architect for the City of Charleston.