About
The Restore Oakland building is a permanent home to Bay Area non-profits that cultivate restorative economics and healing justice. The community hub consists of office spaces and Peace Room on the top floor, a commercial kitchen on the ground floor, and community meeting rooms in the basement floor. DJDS steered the community listening sessions, and provided full architectural services through construction.
Project Details
Project Type: Adaptive Reuse: Commercial, Retail, Restorative Justice (20,000 square feet)
Location: Oakland, California
Client: Ella Baker Center (EBC), Restaurant Opportunities Center (ROC)
Designing Justice + Designing Spaces Team: Shelley Davis Roberts, Kacper Bigosinski, Kyle Rawlins, Deanna Van Buren
Status: Construction Completed 2019
The Restore Oakland building is located in the heart of Fruitvale at 1419 34th Ave. Oakland, CA.
A commercial kitchen and open-plan dining room is accessed on the ground floor.
The building’s top floor overlooking International Blvd. maximizes natural light in the office space of the Ella Baker Center.
Conference rooms in the basement level are offered at a sliding scale for community members.
Restore Oakland combats rent prices by offering permanent homes to tenants like Causa Justa :: Just Cause, a housing and immigrant rights nonprofit.
Creating a permanent home for local nonprofits
Located in the Fruitvale neighborhood of Oakland, CA, the building is co-owned by the Ella Baker Center (EBC) and the Restaurant Opportunities Center (ROC), who hired DJDS to support the Ella Baker Center’s initiatives to end mass incarceration. DJDS worked with Restore Oakland LLC to locate the project site and negotiate the purchase and sale agreement of the property. Through a series of design workshops with the partner organizations, DJDS also developed a design and renderings to support with the fundraising campaign. The DJDS team then provided full architectural services for the project through construction.
The Peace Room: for healing justice work
A critical part of the design of Restore Oakland was to include a space dedicated to Restorative Justice. Designing for restorative justice means ensuring dedicated spaces support programming where community members feel heard and supported, and in this case conducive to conflict resolution. Named the “Peace Room,” this room on the top floor embodies design characteristics directly tied to calming the nervous system – soft colors, lighting that resembles clouds, maximizing light for greenery, and culturally-relevant art set a calming tone in the space. In 2024, DJDS completed a post-occupancy evaluation of the Restore Oakland building to determine the impact of the design on the building’s programming.
Many of the physical elements of the Peace Room contribute to a sense of healing and a feeling of calm, a desired sense when doing circle work.
“We don't tend to use the peace room for meetings unless it's a meeting that is connected to healing. It's a space to do different kind of work, and I think it's relational work.``
The incorporation of art at multiple scales creates touch points where community can see their cultural identity reflected in the spaces around them.
Restore Oakland combats rent prices by offering permanent homes to tenants like Causa Justa :: Just Cause, a housing and immigrant rights nonprofit.
“Spaces for Transformational Programming” – a new Post Occupancy Evaluation
In 2024, DJDS completed a post-occupancy evaluation of the Restore Oakland building to assess the impact of its design on the building’s programming and overall community well-being. This evaluation places emphasis on how the building’s layout and attributes affect individuals who may have experienced trauma, incarceration, or housing disputes, as well as those in need of workforce development support. Unlike traditional evaluations, this study focuses on how the design makes people feel, rather than on the technical performance of the building. To receive a copy of the Restore Oakland Post Occupancy Evaluation, please fill out the form below. Once submitted, you will receive an email with a link to download the report.
Learn more about our restorative justice projects:
Restore Oakland |
Women's Refuge Trailer |
School on Wheels |