Perched on a hilltop in the Bel Air neighborhood of Los Angeles, overlooking the Pacific Ocean and the Los Angeles basin, the project gently lands a dynamic building on top of a buried podium that replicates the natural topography that was once there before the area was subdivided for development. This hollow post-war neighborhood has been transforming gradually, overtaken by recent developments that rely on size rather than spatial quality. The concept set out to reduce the massing of a rather large project, for it to lodge within the neighborhood proportionally. It proposes an alternative model within the confines of stringent regulations.
This project engages an exercise in spatial relationships to accelerate the programs of the house. It utilizes the split-level design to follow this topography of the hill and to connect the floor half-story plates. The plates form adjacencies, both visual and functional therefore allowing twice the utility of an otherwise compartmentalized organization.
The project’s aesthetic was directed by streamline automotive design, which among others, proposed concealed performance for every technology in the house. The interior palette was based on a utilitarian approach to materials, in contrast to the overall ambient approach of the design where space overcame necessity. This balance of power proceeded in the backdrop of environmental sensitivity and clinical dearth.
A courtyard created by daylighting the lower bedrooms from the buried podium, also acts as the rainwater runoff filtration system for the entire site. The project meets or exceeds stringent California green building and energy conservation standards such as low-flow plumbing systems, drought tolerant planting, rainwater filtration, photovoltaic integration, high efficiency building envelope and glazing, HERS rating of the mechanical system and more.
Indoor materials specified were sourced naturally and compliant with Low VOC standards. Design palette was kept minimal to an all natural selection such as mica plaster, hardwood flooring, natural stone. The project sought out minimal, low-impact, and proven materials, achieving a balance between durability, ease of maintenance and responsible design.
The project has so far won 22 international design awards including:
A DESIGN AWARD-2022-RO54
ACDA - Architecture, Construction & Design Awards-2022-RO54
AMP - ARCHITECTURE MASTERPRIZE-2022-RO54
ARCHITECT OF THE YEAR AWARDS-2022-RO54
ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN COMMUNITY-2023-RO54
BEST OF YEAR_INTERIOR DESIGN MAGAZINE-2022-RO54
BUILT DESIGN AWARDS-2022-RO54
CREDAWARD-2023-RO54
DNA PARIS AWARDS-2023-RO54
GLOBAL FUTURE DESIGN AWARDS-2022-RO54
ICONIC AWARDS-2023-RO54
IDA - I DESIGN AWARDS-2022-RO54
LABC - LAAA-LOS ANGELES ARCHITECTURAL AWARDS-2022-RO54
LIT - LIGHTING DESIGN AWARDS-2022-RO54
LIV HOSPITALITY DESIGN AWARDS-2023-RO54
LONDON INTERNATIONAL CREATIVE COMPETITION-2022-RO54
LOOP DESIGN AWARDS-2022-RO54
OUTSTANDING PROPERTY AWARD LONDON-2022-RO54
RTF-RETHINKING THE FUTURE AWARDS-2023-RO54
SIT-INTERIOR DESIGN OF THE YEAR-PROFESSIONAL-2023-RO54
TITAN PROPERTY AWARDS-2022-RO54
UDAD_Urban Design & Architecture Design Awards-2022-RO54
