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Hide and Seek Apartments
By : Valerie Schweitzer Architects
GRANDS PRIX DU DESIGN – 16th edition
Discipline : Architecture
Categories : Other categories in architecture / Facade : Gold Certification
The 15-unit apartment building in West LA was inspired by the ubiquitous palm tree. With its pocket gardens inserted into the facade, it provides a sense of nurture to its inhabitants and to the street as a whole, incorporating the local flora in unique ways. With a medley of industrial and salvaged natural materials, it engages and dialogues with the site’s 90-year-old sycamore. The result is a playful treehouse effect, unusual for an apartment building. The structure, with LEED Gold pending, heightens our awareness of the interplay of nature with the man made that marks Los Angeles. It does so with Corten steel, large expanses of low-e high performance Solarban glass, high-textured board from concrete, salvaged redwood, and low-water palm trees on all floors. The front half of the roof was engineered to hold the weight of large terra cotta planters to create a grove of shading palm trees for all. Balconies also have extra structure to support palm trees that add shade for hot summer months. The weathered steel at the front facade is cut into refined forms to draw out its beauty. These steel archways loosely resemble the trunks of the surrounding palm trees and fronds. They frame the near-ancient sycamore, as well as hummingbirds and more distant lush vegetation. Oxidized steel reflects and absorbs the passage of time through color. As dusk falls, these steel members seem to mingle with the actual tree branches. Each piece is stiffened with curving steel ribs that follow its contours. We also aimed to innovate with the use of four inch thick board form veneer at the large front wall, which lowered our embodied energy. A wide swathe of palm trees and succulents are carefully situated in planters and at grade to create a semi public garden for pedestrians to pause and greet neighbors. Four stories high, 1946 Overland is submerged over 3 feet below grade to optimize the height for each unit, given the height restriction by the city. This also keeps the lobbies cooler in summer months. Additionally, passively cooled indoor/outdoor loggias, for all tenants, reduce HVAC load at the Southwest-facing front facade. Nanotechnology-generated transparent films reduce heat gain and UV radiation at the three southwest-facing units by 55 percent, along with a concealed drop-in exterior blind at the top unit.
The primary challenge was to meet the speculative goal of the developers to maximize square footage on a strict budget while still elevating the pedestrian and tenant experience. The building utilizes a concrete podium with a wood superstructure, and steel framing at the front facade to accomplish the wide expanses of glass. Three large bays at the upper floors are open to create the plant-filled loggias that take advantage of the idyllic climate, improve air circulation and lower the carbon footprint. Six skylights at the top floor allow for plentiful daylighting. Carefully positioned operable windows off the front-facing hallway bring fresh air from the open loggias into units at the top two floors. The sheltered loggias encourage community and allow one to work down the hall from one’s apartment. This was our other goal–to address and further new hybrid models of working from home, tapping into nature as much as possible. Natural light is furthered with the inclusion of six skylights at the top floor. The ‘pocket gardens’ carved into the facade forge greater connections with the street life, which includes young school kids from the charter school across the street and bikers who work in nearby Century City. Concrete surfaces are pulled into the interiors, along with flora, to blur distinctions between indoors and outdoors.
Collaboration
Architect : Valerie Schweitzer Architects
General Contractor : James Kennedy Construction
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