1946 Overland Avenue, 2022
This 15-unit apartment building in West LA was inspired by the ubiquitous palm tree. It provides a sense of nurture to its inhabitants and to the street as a whole in a post pandemic age, incorporating the local flora in unique ways. With a medley of industrial and salvaged natural materials, it engages the site’s 90-year-old sycamore. The result is a playful tree house effect. The structure, with LEED Gold, heightens our awareness of the interplay of nature with the manmade in Los Angeles. It does so with Corten steel, large expanses of high-performance insulated glass, board form concrete, salvaged redwood, (seen below), and low-water palm trees. The industrial steel is cut into refined forms to draw out its surprising beauty. These arched elements playfully resemble the trunks and branches of the surrounding flora. They frame the ancient sycamore at each public loggia. Each laser-cut piece is stiffened with steel ribs.
We innovate with four inch thick board form veneer at the large front wall, which lowered our embodied energy. 1946 Overland is submerged over 3 feet below grade to optimize the height for each unit and keep the lobbies cooler. Additionally, passively cooled indoor/outdoor loggias reduce HVAC load at the Southwest-facing front facade. Nanotechnology invisible film reduces 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. Desert fan palm trees and Boston ivy integrate with the architecture itself. The primary challenge was to meet the speculative goal of the developers to maximize square footage on a budget while still elevating the pedestrian experience. The building utilizes 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. Carefully positioned operable windows off the front-facing hallway bring fresh air from the open loggias into units. Post-Covid, the sheltered loggias encourage community and allow for work space down the hall from one’s apartment. The ‘pocket gardens’ 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 and greenery are pulled into the interiors to blur distinctions between indoors and outdoors.
Euclidean geometry is interrupted by steel that suggest the organic forms of palm trees. The high-performance insulated glass panels reflect California flora. A roof garden pools the ecologies of Los Angeles from a drip-irrigated date palm tree grove to a communal herb garden. A large swathe of roof is designated for solar panels in phase 2. The building replaces a dilapidated two-story building.
