MAD Architects, headquartered in Beijing, is making progress on its first U.S. project, Gardenhouse in Beverly Hills (first announced on Archinect in 2015). The playful 18-unit residential project along Wilshire Boulevard just topped out and aims for completion before the end of the year—then expected to sport an enormous wrap-around outdoor living wall facade with native, drought-tolerant succulents and vines.

"The 'hillside village' offers a variety of different housing typologies – three townhouses, two studios, five villas and eight condominiums – that are arranged to cultivate a private neighborhood feeling in the middle of the city," reads the project description.

"Individual balconies and patios extend out over an inner courtyard that allows villa residents to at once, enjoy the nature and independence from neighbors. There is also a balance between public and private as the housing appears opaque from the street but reveals a transparent facade facing toward the private garden and other residential units."

"We want to bring the green atmosphere into what would traditionally be considered compact, condo living, by breaking down the scale and massing of the building," explains top MAD man, Ma Yansong. "Rather than develop architecture where nature exists around the building, we want to give residents the experience of being in the middle of nature, while they enjoy the conveniences of big city living."

For comparison, renderings of the Gardenhouse vision MAD, together with executive architect and landscape architects, Gruen Associates, are shooting for.

Project Details

Location: Los Angeles, USA
Time: 2013-2018
Typology: Residential, Commercial
Site Area: 25,700 sq.ft.
Building Area: 47,496 sq.ft.
Building Height: 61 ft.
Partners in Charge: Ma Yansong, Dang Qun, Yosuke Hayano
Associate Partners in Charge: Lu Junliang (Dixon), Flora Lee
Design Team: Li Guangchong, Cesar D Pena del Rey, Jeffrey Miner, Joanna Tan, Chris Hung-Yu Chen, Xie Wenshan

Client: Palisades Capital Partners LLC
Executive Architect: Gruen Associates
Landscape Architect: Gruen Associates
Interior Designer: Rottet Studio
Structural Engineer: John Labib & Associates
MEP Engineer: Breen Engineering Inc.
Civil Engineer: Kimley-Horn and Associates, Inc.