Archinect - News

Inside the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County’s new $75 million expansion

2024-11-18T07:20:00-05:00

The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County (NHM) has opened its $75 million NHM Commons expansion to the public. Designed by Frederick Fisher and Partners, with landscape architecture by Studio-MLA and exhibition spaces by Studio Joseph, the NHM Commons comprises approximately 75,000 square feet of renovated and newly constructed space.

Image credit: Benny Chan

The centerpiece of the design is a transparent glass façade, creating a visual connection between the museum and Exposition Park. Inside, the Commons Theater and various multipurpose spaces have been built to accommodate an expanded slate of community-centered programming. The new spaces facilitate engagement with science, culture, and nature, including areas for those visiting without a ticket.

Image credit: Benny Chan

Outside, Studio-MLA has developed a community plaza in collaboration with Native American advisors, featuring sustainable planting, Tongva-inspired mortar i...

California begins offering $13,000 for single-family seismic retrofits

2024-10-22T17:22:00-04:00

The State of California has announced a new wave of grants through its Earthquake Soft-Story (ESS) program that will offer homeowners small $13,000 grants to be used in seismic retrofits.

The grants apply to qualified homeowners in the San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles and could be a potential windfall for architects with expertise in such projects. Only one- and two-story homes with dwelling space above a garage are eligible, according to MSN. Seismic events in L.A. County in 2024 recently surpassed numbers that haven't been seen in decades.

L.A moves new rezoning plan forward, critics say it will codify exclusion

2024-09-28T10:07:00-04:00

Will L.A. continue to preserve communities dominated by single-family homes? Or will the city make a historic shift to allow for more affordable housing in areas that have long excluded it?

City Planning officials voted on Thursday to approve the plan, which the LA Times pointed out is limited to just 28% of the city and areas that are heavily zoned for commercial and/or multifamily construction.

The publication had to use a F.O.I.L. Act petition to obtain a copy of the city-funded Architectural Resources Group/USC-UCLA report on outdated single-family zoning policies, which reads: "Detached single-family residences cover a disproportionate amount of the land zoned residential. This has resulted in an unaffordable housing market due, in part, to a pervasive lack of supply and the fact that single-family homes are more expensive than multi-family residences."

City Council has until February to approve a final rezoning plan in line with the state's original 2022 mandate.

Checking in on LA's ‘28 by 28’ transit plan with an eye on the next Summer Olympics

2024-08-09T18:00:00-04:00

New reporting on the transportation infrastructure strategy for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles from the local NBC affiliate has shown glaring gaps that may complicate the promises made previously by then-Mayor Eric Garcetti and other officials.

The report found that ten L.A. Metro projects will not be completed until after 2028. Metro, which received $900 million in funding for the expansion this spring, is still facing a $400 million deficit. Altogether, the projects (which also include freeway improvements around L.A. County) are worth a total of $42.9 billion. The most important of these is the Purple Line extension to the Westside, which has faced numerous cost overruns and construction challenges since work first began in 2014.

First California High-Speed Rail segment in LA County gets final EIR approvals

2024-07-09T11:18:00-04:00

The penultimate segment of the forthcoming California High-Speed Rail connection from Southern California to the San Francisco Bay Area has been approved for construction. The stretch begins at Palmdale in northern LA County and connects to Burbank. It will be followed by the final link between Downtown Los Angeles and Anaheim.

ABC7 first reported the milestone and said: “[O]fficials noted that the Palmdale-Burbank section will be largely underground, with four separate tunnels accounting for roughly 30 of the 38 miles. The tunnels will run beneath the Acton community and through the Angeles National Forest. Travel time between Palmdale and Burbank is expected to be about 17 minutes on the high-speed train.”

The initial renderings of the first four Foster + Partners and Arup station terminals were released last month. As per ABC, work is already underway at 25 sites across t...

Brookings research gives Los Angeles communities guidance for future ADU implementation

2024-05-02T18:02:00-04:00

New research published recently by the Brookings Institution has provided details of how local government in Los Angeles can galvanize a newfound abundance of Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) through policy changes in order to combat an ongoing housing crisis currently affecting more than one million Angelenos.

Authors Jenny Schuetz and Eve Devens state: “The Los Angeles region offers a useful setting to explore the prospects of affordable ADUs. Four jurisdictions within the region have developed affordable ADU pilot programs. One program, the city of Los Angeles’ LA ADU Accelerator Program, offers operating subsidies for existing ADUs, while the other three offer development subsidies as well as vouchers to cover operating costs.”

This research can be used to bolster architects’ so-called “toolkit” of affordable housing solutions in conjunction with the recent Harvard Center for Housing joint study that compared the strengths and failures of California’s policies with those in othe...

A new LA Times map shows 6,000 structures in need of seismic retrofit across Los Angeles

2023-12-18T12:17:00-05:00

The LA Times recently debuted a useful map of seismic retrofit projects in major sections of the city months after official updates to the building code were enacted to address risks posed to soft-story and non-ductile concrete structures before 2033.

The map was made by surveying available records from Los Angeles, West Hollywood, Santa Monica, and Pasadena. More than 6,000 of the 16,000 buildings in the dataset are categorized as still requiring retrofits, including many homes and offices built before 1996.

Clusters of buildings in Pasadena’s Old Town and near the California Institute of Technology, most sections of Downtown LA and its nearby constituents (Koreatown, Jefferson Park, and Pico-Union), and a large swath of Hollywood between Beverly Hills and La Brea Avenue contain the majority of what has yet to receive seismic retrofits. The year ahead should see a decisive turnaround, as 60% of the yet-to-be-retrofitted soft-story buildings in the city are mandated to be completed ...

OLIN, Agency Artifact envision $4.8 billion ‘Central Park for the San Fernando Valley’

2023-11-03T13:53:00-04:00

The City of Los Angeles Bureau of Engineering has announced plans for a new master plan of the San Fernando Valley’s Sepulveda Basin from OLIN, Agency Artifact, Geosyntec, and a team of collaborating consultants.

The $4.8 billion Sepulveda Basin Vision Plan will unfold over 25 years and covers an area spanning more than 2,000 acres between Van Nuys, Lake Balboa, Reseda, Sherman Oaks, and Encino that is currently considered ‘park-poor’ by urban planning standards, according to Urbanize LA’s report on the announcement Wednesday.

The area includes segments covered in the LA River revitalization plan. The project will rehabilitate existing wildlife areas while installing a total of 46 new projects, some of which are scheduled to be included as venues in the 2028 Olympics. A new civic plaza and pedestrian walk will also be created along Victory Boulevard. Olin says it will become the “‘Central Park’ for the San Fernando Valley.”

Image courtesy City of LA/OLIN

By acreage, the plan covers ...

Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County's $75 million NHM Commons expansion tops out in Exposition Park

2023-05-30T13:05:00-04:00

The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County has just celebrated its topping out for the new 75,000-square-foot NHM Commons expansion led by LA mainstays Studio-MLA and Frederick Fisher and Partners.

The project creates a new wing and community hub on the southwest side of the museum’s campus in Exposition Park and will be open to the public by the end of next year following a multi-year construction phase.

The museum describes: “The indoor/outdoor NHM Commons spaces will enable NHM to expand its community-centered, co-created programming, thereby further connecting the public with science, nature, culture, heritage, and community, while creating opportunities for people to come together to experience NHM, with or without a ticket.”

NHMLAC President and Director Dr. Lori Bettison-Varga. Photo by Wade Hammond, courtesy of NHMLAC.

At last week’s special beam signing ceremony, NHMLAC President and Director Dr. Lori Bettison-Varga added: “This transformative expansion will be a dynam...

Los Angeles publishes list of 33 county-owned structures most at-risk in an earthquake

2023-03-30T11:49:00-04:00

In the wake of last month’s devastating earthquake in Turkey and Syria, Los Angeles County has identified some 33 important structures it says are the most at risk during a major seismic event of that magnitude.

Last week, the Board of Supervisors published a list of at-risk properties owned by the county that must be upgraded in line with modern standards over the next ten years, according to KTLA.

The county has already mandated changes to its building codes that call for similar upgrades to all non-ductile concrete high-rises and soft-story residential structures before the year 2033. Officials are wary of the “Big One” — a magnitude 7.8 or above quake — that would kill as many as 1,800 people and destroy an estimated 2,000 structures in the area per the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).

“We never thought that spending the money on retrofitting these buildings was worth the risk,” U...

Los Angeles updates its building codes in wake of deadly Turkey-Syria earthquake

2023-03-02T12:30:00-05:00

Los Angeles County’s Board of Supervisors voted Wednesday to approve a motion requiring all non-ductile, concrete high-rise structures in LA County to be given seismic retrofits within the next ten years.

The motion applies to all incorporated communities in the county and must be codified by the directors of public works within six months according to the supervisors. The update comes as multiple LA media outlets reported widespread weak spots across the region in response to the February 6th Turkey-Syria Earthquake that killed more than 50,000.

Under the updated building codes, current building owners have a ten-year time period in which to submit structural evaluation assessments to the agency. Properties will either be retrofitted or demolished according to the language put forth by Supervisors Holly Mitchell and Hilda Solis.

“The county should follow the example of surrounding jurisdict...

The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles shares updates on new community-focused NHM Commons and collaboration with Native American community leaders

2022-12-09T17:09:00-05:00

The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County has announced updated plans for a Studio-MLA and Frederick Fisher and Partners-led expansion that is now taking shape for the year 2024.

New renderings of the 60,000-square-foot project appear to add interior details to the previous announcement, which showcased a unique transparent "curated facade" meant to exhibit pieces from the museum similar to a giant display case or vitrine.

As part of the effort, the museum has formed two new advisory groups, the NHM Commons Native American Advisory Council and the NHM Commons Advisory Coalition. The groups will advise the design team (which now also includes New York-based Studio Joseph) as to how best to determine "ways to build a sense of welcome, acknowledgment, and respect for Native people who enter this space and opportunities to remind, express to and educate visitors that Los Angeles is on Native land."

Renderings by Frederick Fisher and Partners, Studio MLA, and Studio Joseph. Courte...

Los Angeles to convert vacant courthouse into affordable housing

2022-10-27T13:16:00-04:00

A long-closed Los Angeles County courthouse in Sawtelle that was once a popular draw for skateboarders may soon be redeveloped for affordable housing. The County Board of Supervisors voted to buy the former West Los Angeles Courthouse at 1633 Purdue Avenue for a mixed-use, affordable housing development, City News Service reported via KFI AM 640.

As detailed by The Real Deal, a motion to buy the courthouse, which has been vacant since June 2013, was proposed, asking Los Angeles County to source funds to acquire the space from the Judicial Council. The County has reportedly, so far, paid more than $3.5 million to the Council to incentivize development.

Doubling as a popular skate venue since the 1990s, the courthouse site became a legal location for skating following its 2013 closure, in which it’s been dubbed the West LA Courthouse Skate Plaza. Los Angeles County has chosen Arlington, Virginia-based West LA Commons as the prospective developer. The current terms of the project call for the developer to pay the County $32.3 million. The County Board of Supervisors will meet to discuss the project again on November 15th, when the public will have the opportunity to comment on the project.

LA County may soon have a new dedicated agency to address its affordable housing woes

2022-08-30T10:00:00-04:00

The ongoing housing crisis in Los Angeles County may soon become the subject of a new dedicated government agency after the California State Assembly voted on Wednesday to approve SB 679.

If signed into law, the bill would authorize the county to create an entity called the Los Angeles County Affordable Housing Solutions Agency (or LACAHSA) that seeks to address the crisis through a consolidated approach the bill’s author, Democratic State Senator Sydney Kamlager, described as “clear, focused, [and] integrated” when compared to the current system’s diffuse and ineffective nature.

A recent LA Times editorial op-ed mentioned that the bill was amended to include provisions for union contractors in line with the city’s Project Labor Agreement as well as an exemption from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), which is often used cynically as a means of preventing such developments. The editorial also pointed out that funding for the agency, to which the bill allocates a tota...

Los Angeles County to allocate more than $9 million for park projects in communities in need of open space

2022-07-20T20:01:00-04:00

The Los Angeles County Regional Park and Open Space District announced on Thursday, July 14, that it will allocate more than $9 million to support the development of park projects in communities in most need of open space. The grant funding is from Measure A, the LA County Safe, Clean Neighborhood Parks and Beaches Measure — a parcel tax approved by voters in 2016.

The funding will be allocated across 30 cities and in unincorporated areas in the Los Angeles region. According to the district’s director Norma Edith Garcia-Gonzalez, the funds will be critical in creating parks in areas with much less park acreage than the county average.

The Measure A funding will establish the Technical Assistance Program, which will help organizations with applications for grant programs for their park projects.

Los Angeles County releases final LA River Master Plan

2022-05-23T19:29:00-04:00

The multi-year process that will eventually engender a string of entirely reimagined waterfront plots along the LA River has entered its next phase after county officials released their final master plan last week.

The documents offer an update to the County proposal first introduced in 2016 by Supervisors Hilda Solis and Sheila Kuehl. The plan will now be submitted to the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors for review at a meeting scheduled for June 14th.

Image via The LA River Master Plan, courtesy Los Angeles County.

Said to create a “kit of parts” that potentially includes the $1 billion-plus Taylor Yard G2 site and a total of 77 others (22 of which are considered new), the master plan is said to provide a “toolkit” for community revitalization that addresses core areas of climate change, biodiversity, homelessness, and gentrification.

Previously on Archinect: L.A. River masterplan updates unveiled

The master plan incorporates the state’s Lower LA River Revitalization Plan a...

California demands Los Angeles County rezone for 255,000 new housing units... by mid-October

2022-02-28T18:41:00-05:00

Los Angeles must rezone to accommodate an additional quarter-million new homes by mid-October after state housing regulators rejected the city’s long-term plan for growth. If city leaders do not fix the housing plan or complete the rezoning by the new deadline, they could lose access to billions of dollars in affordable housing grants, officials with the state Department of Housing and Community Development said in a letter this week.

Los Angeles County had previously planned to add exactly 10% of the new mandate in the form of housing specifically for the homeless by the year 2025. It has also given some additional leeway to homeowners wishing to install ADUs, which can play a crucial role in meeting the state’s pressing development needs. (Current estimates have the number of people experiencing homelessness in Los Angeles at over 66,000.)

The state’s report also derided LA County’s development plan for its overall lack of parks programming and investments into lower-income communities. The punitive measures against the plan seems paradoxical considering the dodges certain communities have attempted in other parts of California. Officials said they will amend plans in time for the next round of funding reviews in May, but that the breakneck pace of development required to meet the new state requirements in under eight months would outstrip even North Korea in terms of its speed and practicality.

“Rezoning the ...

10 residential projects in Los Angeles by LA architects we liked this month

2020-01-27T19:53:00-05:00

As part of Archinect's month-long Spotlight on Los Angeles, we have selected ten of our favorite residential projects across various cities and suburbs in Los Angeles County designed by practices with offices in LA.

While the region is bustling with stunning homes and raw design talent alike (too many to be featured here), we have focused our gaze on outstanding projects uploaded to LA-based Firm profiles here on Archinect.

Looking for architectural jobs in the region? Check out these firms that are currently hiring in the city and catch up also with our latest curated job picks specifically for Los Angeles.

If you missed last month's roundup of our favorite architectural projects in Austin by Austin architects, click here to take a peek.

↑ Morgan Phoa Library and Residence in Los Feliz, Los Angeles, CA by SPF:architects

↑ Mariposa1038 in Koreatown, Los Angeles, CA by Lorcan O'Herlihy Architects; Photo: Paul Vu

↑ Wonderland Houses in the Hollywood Hills of Los Angeles, CA by MUTUO...

Construction on high-speed rail line linking Los Angeles and Las Vegas on the horizon

2019-09-03T15:30:00-04:00

Virgin Trains USA Vice President Bob O’Malley told delegates at the Nevada Economic Development Conference that design work was 30% complete and that the proposed line between the Las Vega strip and Victorville, on the northeast outskirts of Los Angeles, would be using the Virgin Trains’ Florida project as its model. The line will span [185 miles] with trains travelling up to [149 miles] per hour, which would clock a journey time of approximately 75 minutes.

Virgin Trains USA is reportedly seeking financing for the project, which could shuttle up to 22 million travelers per year between the two metropolitan regions.

The outfit, which is also behind the successful Brightline train line in Florida, aims to finish construction of the L.A.-Las Vegas route by 2023. SOM is the designer for three of the Brightline's stations.

Visualizing L.A. County's bad urban planning decisions

2019-08-27T19:00:00-04:00

Like most American cities, Los Angeles has too much parking. Way too much parking.

In a recent online essay titled No Parking Here, designer and illustrator Josh Vredevoogd takes a researched look into the failed urban planning ethos that underpins Los Angeles County's massive sea of parking stalls.

According to Vredevoogd's research, Los Angeles County is currently home to 18.6 million parking spaces, a number that eclipses the county's population (10.2 million residents). If collected into a single parcel, the gargantuan parking lot would span 110,000 acres of asphalt, or, an area roughly 7.5 times the size of Manhattan. If populated at Manhattan's density, Vredevoogd agrues, that sizable lot could host a population of 12 million residents.

The illustrative example highlights a central issue for Los Angeles's urbanism: the area's parking minimums fuel many of the region's deeply entrenched social problems, including the housing affordability crisis, the homelessness crisis, and...