AiA Los Angeles 2018 Residential Design Awards:  https://www.aialosangeles.org/...

AiA California 2019 Design Awards:

https://aiacalifornia.org/blup...

This project is our response to the housing crisis in Los Angeles.  In lieu of investing our limited resources into a detached one-family house of singular use and limited flexibility of residential occupancy, we decided to create a property with spaces that can be shared and foster a wider spectrum of activities and living situations. While modest is the gesture to maintain the residential unit density of two, we believe that the project represents an viable and sustainable alternative (not a replacement) to the dominant single family housing type maintained and produced in the region.  This alternative can provide a contrast to the general homogeneity of the perpetual proliferation of detached single family homes many of which are growing only in size rather then usefulness.  Given that both low density multi-family buildings and single family dwellings are similar in entitlement standards (ie. zoning, building code, etc.) and costs of construction, we believe there is far more value, potential, opportunities and richness in low density complexes.  Notwithstanding future planned overhauls of zoning codes and waining of nimby sentiments, it is possible that low density buildings (two to four units per building) can serve as a stop gap to meet the demands of the middle of the market.  

The main building is a stacked duplex with a unit on each floor.  Though the partition envelope between the units is a common floor/ceiling, the site amenities are equally distributed to both units. Both units have direct and convenient access to private outdoor space adjacent to the respective main living space.  This is the most extreme contrast between denser urban housing which has very little yards, versus suburban single families which inversely has a lot.  It is curious that Los Angeles development standards for multifamily land parcels are the same as suburban standards such as requisite side, front and rear yards.  So alternative typologies with more efficiencies like Row Houses are basically not plausible.  Regardless, our project navigates these zoning hangups with aplomb.  The front yard is yielded to the lower unit and equipped with all the trappings of a conventional single family home like a large covered front porch, independent and conspicuous entry door, landscaping, fence, mailbox etc.   The upper unit pulls the street down the driveway to an entry and access stairway in the back and the accessory garage building.  The upper unit decks are oriented to minimize building bulk and then lightly covered with stretch fabric awnings on steel trellis and open frames of the sky.  Ample swaths of large glass doors and windows provide capacity for indoor outdoor living while further trimming the girth of the structure with transparency.  Finally, the entire exterior is clad with fiber cement boards that are oriented and painted to differentiate the units.  The bright blue on the upper unit is meant to blend the second story walls into the sky in a tongue and cheek mitigation of the oft repeated critique of two story residential buildings encroaching on the adjacent neighbor’s free and clear access to the heavens.  

The accessory building in the back is the jack-of-all-trades flex space with adjacency to the largest yard.  With the largest clear opening onsite (a 19’ wide x 8’ tall garage door) directly adjacent to a diverse mix of soft and hard scapes, it has the capacity to serve a multitude of uses like temporary dwelling, office, half-court basketball, or work shop well before the actual storage of automobiles or other recreational and ambiguously defined activities intended for a “U” occupancy.