Following last week’s visit to Los Angeles-based Marmol Radziner, we are moving our Meet Your Next Employer series to Hawthorne, CA this week to explore the work of Brooks + Scarpa.
Founded in 1991, and with offices in California and Florida, the firm has built a portfolio “with an extremely rigorous and exacting methodology, incorporating cross-discipline research and digital technologies.” A frequent fixture across our architectural news coverage, the firm was most recently named among three finalists selected to redesign I.M. Pei’s dormitory complex at the New College of Florida.
Over on Archinect Jobs, the firm is currently hiring for a BIM and AI Integration Manager to join their Hawthorne 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 unique projects by Brooks + Scarpa that demonstrate their design ethos.
The Southern Utah Art Museum was conceived as part of a wider $39.1 million Beverly Taylor Sorenson Center for the Arts campus; a 5.5-acre master plan linking downtown Cedar City with the Southern Utah University Campus. The museum comprises 28,000 square feet of adaptable gallery and exhibition space to accommodate the special collection of famous artist Jim Jones as well as regularly displaying the work of students, faculty, regional artists, and juried shows.
Brooks + Scarpa was inspired by the southern Utah slot canyons that featured heavily in Jones' work. An unusually contemporary structure for the area, the museum features a sweeping, canyon-like roof that cantilevers 120 feet to the west to create 6,000 square feet of protected outdoor space while also shading the art housed inside a western-facing glass façade. The street-facing exterior, a curtain wall of off-white fiberglass, features a textured finish that creates subtle shadows in the sun. The remaining envelope, clad in undulating panels, mimics the texture of a sheer cliff face.
The new Animo South Los Angeles High School was built to replace facilities lost during a massive fire in 2014. The18,000 square-foot building comprises 11 airy, light-filled classrooms, two science labs, a faculty lounge, new administrative and counseling offices, and a public courtyard for student gatherings and activities. Instead of typical property line security fences found in other schools, the building is surrounded by 20-foot-tall, perforated bullet-resistant metal walls that integrate with the overall design.
“The perforated anodized aluminum façade panels of the building create an ever-changing screen that sparkles in the sun and glows at night, while simultaneously providing shade to cool the building, reducing noise, enhancing privacy, and still allowing for views, great natural light, and ventilation,” said Brooks + Scarpa at the time of the scheme’s completion. “The walls filter direct sunlight that lends unexpected visual depth while creating a sense of security for the occupants. Enhancing the structure’s geometric texture, the irregular array of openings variably extrudes from the building’s surface.”
Located in Pembroke Pines, FL, the Gateway Sculpture rises as steel tree columns that lead to perforated plates. Located in a breezy site, the sculpture's plates appear to spin continuously in the wind. During the day, the sculpture creates a dappled light effect on the ground alongside shaded seating, while also incorporating lighting for nighttime displays.
Working with a limited budget, Brooks + Scarpa used durable materials including stainless steel and environmentally sensitive paint that could withstand Florida's humid, coastal climate. Meanwhile, large planting areas that surround the structure act as “rain gardens” that can collect stormwater from the entire building and the hardscape of the public plaza.
Located in the MacArthur Park area of Los Angeles, theSIX is a 52-unit affordable housing project that provides a home, support services, and rehabilitation for disabled veterans. A central courtyard is surrounded by four levels of housing units with balconies wrapped with a wood screen made from recycled planking. The courtyard also contains large openings with green roofs that visually connect the space to the street on the lower level beyond. The resulting arrangement allows tenants to enjoy a secured open space while still connecting to the larger community.
“Offering shelter and comfort, the SIX breaks the prescriptive mold of the traditional shelter by creating public and private "zones" in which private space is deemphasized, in favor of large public areas,” Brooks + Scarpa explains. “The organization of the space is intended to transform the way people live away from a reclusive, isolating layout towards a community-oriented, interactive space.”
A community housing initiative for formerly homeless teenage youths transitioning into adulthood in Venice, Los Angeles, the Rose Apartments complex features a four-story design with 35 units. Located near Venice Beach's central retail strip, the scheme takes its cues from Irving Gill’s neighboring Horatio West Court apartments and other examples of courtyard housing that predominated the city in the years prior to the Second World War.
“The courtyard is only one aspect of a successful design,” Brooks + Scarpa explained at the time of the scheme’s completion. “By including affordable housing for transitional aged youths, it allowed the non-developer to take advantage of California State Assembly Bill AB763 for increased height and density, increasing the project density from an area average of 12.30/DU/A to more than 110 units/acre. This much-needed affordable housing provides poor and disadvantaged populations housing in an affluent area of town where low-wage workers are critical but unable to afford to live.”
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.
2 Comments
1) Very much like Southern Utah Art Museum: i) looks like a museum; ii) shapes nicely echo the nearby natural terrain; iii) dramatic blank wall facing plaza invites further inquiry; and iv) appears to fit into area context.
2) Animo South Los Angeles High School: What's the message here? School looks like a factory building because that's what education is all about? Bunker withdrawn from the city's surroundings. How about some windows? Bleakest central plaza - skate board park - I can imagine. 20 foot high bullet proof walls may suggest security but they won't provide it. There still is an entrance to the building. Would be interesting as a museum.
3). Gateway Sculpture: Very attractive and distinctive. Like the brilliant color.
4). Six Disabled Veteran Housing: Turns in and away from the larger world. Again no windows. Front planting triangle will be hard to maintain. Would worry about possible suicides from balconies (Note: I am a developer of supportive housing. 1,000 units). Interior balconies reminiscent of prison designs. Increased cost of building something like this is not conducive to creating more supportive housing.
5). Rose Apartments: Again, blank walls without windows facing the world outside. Courtyards should provide quiet spaces for resident interaction but should not be an excuse for turning the building away from the larger community: from the point of integrating the architecture with surrounding structures, to avoid calling out this building as "supportive" or low income housing, and to encourage the residents to feel connected to the community outside the building.
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