Residential Cooperative
Leimert Park, Los Angeles
12,000 sq ft
2020
“Inside-Out” reconsiders a traditional courtyard concept by reversing the typical arrangement of private and shared spaces. A core with enclosed private spaces is surrounded by a ring of open platforms that connect collective zones. The configuration of a minimal core and a semi-public perimeter hopes to promote social interaction among the building’s inhabitants as well as between the residents and their community, while also producing a more sustainable design.
With a project brief that expected an high density of housing units and extensive shared spaces, this project needed to reconsider the natural inclination to make the courtyard the main shared space in the building. By counterintuitively placing the shared spaces on the perimeter, the interior courtyard becomes a place of respite and privacy, and the shared spaces are all the more open and dynamic. The project fully exploits this gradient of spaces. The main circulation path spirals along the building’s perimeter as an integral part of a lively shared space, while the interior is modularized and carefully molded to meet the programmatic requirements of the project.
The concept is demonstrated in form, and in tectonic and material expression. The interior core promotes a private and quiet environment through minimal expression, the warmth of wood, and well-enclosed spaces. The perimeter collective spaces, by contrast, are open and airy, thanks to a visually light and open steel structure, while a translucent facade brings in light and connects residents to the city. The facade is thus striking, but simple and appropriate to the existing streetscape.
Central to the project was the impetus to promote social engagement through the design. As such, the perimeter collective program is expressed as a series of platforms within an open space where circulation and shared spaces are consolidated, encouraging interaction between residents and creating an open and welcoming space in an otherwise constrained site. Additionally, the design is able to adeptly accommodate a music store on the ground level.
