Following last week’s visit to Los Angeles-based Assembledge+, we are keeping our Meet Your Next Employer series in LA this week to explore the work of Lorcan O’Herlihy Architects (LOHA).

Founded in 1994, and operating from studios in both LA and Detroit, the firm describes itself as “rooted in architecture’s role as a catalyst for change.” Back in 2017, Archinect spoke with LOHA on how interested applicants could improve their employment prospects at the firm. “We encourage applicants to treat their CVs like a design problem to be solved,” LOHA told us. “We recommend that the CV be tailored to the firm that they are applying for, and to focus on giving an understanding of what that firm does, and fundamental insight of how they can fit into the practice through their CV.”

Over on Archinect Jobs, the firm is currently hiring a Making Coordinator to join their Los Angeles office. For candidates interested in applying for the position, or anybody interested in learning more about the studio’s work, we have rounded up five contemporary Los Angeles multi-family projects by LOHA that demonstrate their design approach.

Formosa1140

Located in West Hollywood, Formosa1140 responds to a lack of public parks in the area by offering one-third of its privately-owned site as a publicly-managed pocked park for the neighborhood. The housing volume, pushed to one side of the building lot, offers each residential unit with a public park frontage.

Externally, the facade is composed of a “unique choreography of perforated metal sheathing and fenestration,” while the variation in privacy screens and open balcony voids allows for the public park to “intrude into the private volume of the building” to promote resident-community interaction. “Located in a redevelopment area previously blighted by high deterioration, crime, and abandonment, Formosa1140’s red form grounds its park, brightens its neutral surroundings, and has helped catalyze the revitalization of West Hollywood,” the firm adds.

Cloverdale749

For Cloverdale749, LOHA sought to explore the threshold between the building envelope and the street, creating a “veil of transformable layers” to promote a “hybridized relationship between the private and public spheres.” Depending on the viewing and lighting angles, the building’s sheathing facade reveals and conceals patios, while decks, windows, and walkways have been positioned to create views of the Hollywood Sign and Downtown Los Angeles.

In addition to forming a visually striking contrast with its neutral stucco neighbors, the scheme’s white-toned cladding helps reduce the solar heat load and energy cooling requirements of the building. “This project’s white skin is a powerful statement of contemporary urban optimism that injects a distinct presence into its surrounding historic fabric,” the firm adds.

MLK1101 Supportive Housing

MLK1101 Supportive Housing transforms a vacant lot in South Los Angeles into what LOHA calls an “uplifting housing community for previously homeless individuals to thrive.” The 26-unit scheme provides permanent, affordable housing for formerly homeless veterans, chronically homeless individuals, and low-income households in an environment that “encourages health and community.”

The scheme’s L-shaped plan allows every apartment to benefit from direct sunlight, cross ventilation, and an elevated green patio. Inside, units are designed for individuals and families ranging from one to three bedrooms. While all units include kitchens and living spaces, tenants are also encouraged to use shared amenities in the community room which has shared kitchen and dining areas for cooking classes, potlucks, group therapy, and other planned / impromptu gatherings. Meanwhile, an outdoor garden with drought-tolerant plants and raised-bed edible gardens connects the community room to the living spaces, giving residents a place to relax and socialize.

SL11024

Situated on the border of UCLA’s campus, SL11024 contains 31 apartments and recreational amenities targeted at students and faculty. Responding to a uniquely wedged site, the scheme is split into two volumes that step downwards along the street’s natural incline. By stepping back in form, the scheme can incorporate access to either a roof deck or courtyard space on every level, providing “vital gathering and community-building venues.”

The building envelope comprises solid, perforated, and ribbed white metal panels, while cement board painted in eight green-hued layers creates a gradient effect that grounds the building. The green treatment also delineates cuts in the building’s form, indicating voids for circulation and gathering spaces. “The cladding system blurs the boundary between the sidewalk and the building mass, creating an animated effect of rippling shadow and light that breaks up the scale of the wall surfaces,” the firm adds.

Mariposa1038

LOHA’s design for Mariposa1038 is informed by the heavy density of its location in LA’s Koreatown. Designed as a pure cube extruded to fit tight on its lot, the scheme was then sculpted to gesture back to the public street. To blur the distinction between the public and private realm, the cube has been pushed inwards on each side to create gentle curves that grand relief to the sidewalks. From the facade, balconies and window frames project outwards to “recapture” the space between the curving geometry and the property boundary.

On the interior, a “carved opening” creates a central focal point that allows natural light deep into the plan. The internal courtyard ribbon “draws the eye upwards and creates continuity from floor to floor” while below the opening, a landscaped planter with bench seating doubles as a rainwater collection system. The scheme is topped by a rooftop deck providing additional outdoor communal space.

Meet Your Next Employer is one of a number of ongoing weekly series showcasing the opportunities available on our industry-leading job board. Our Job Highlights series looks at intriguing and topical employment opportunities currently available on Archinect Jobs, while our weekly roundups curate job opportunities by location, career level, and job description.