PROJECT REQUIREMENTS:
Transform, downsize, and modernize an existing and deteriorated 196 rooms, five-story Residential Hotel with maze like circulation and minimal open space into an 80-unit facility for frail elderly. Increase service amenities and open space while maintaining commercial space on the first floor. The site is located on South Alvarado Street in the City of Los Angeles across from MacArthur Park and is being developed by the Los Angeles Housing Partnership
PROJECT SOLUTION:
The design intent is to reduce the number of units to 80 large efficiency apartments and reconfigure circulation to simplify the arrangement. The two wings of the building were consolidated into one and the minimal central court extended by carving a continuous single loaded path from the adjacent sides. All community areas and outdoor spaces at every level are being provided at the front of the building overlooking Alvarado Street and MacArthur Park. In this way all residents on each floor will have access to the best views and protected gathering spaces convenient to their apartments and more intimate in social scale. The idea is that the best parts of the building are reserved for community use to be shared by all.
The all-new single apartment layouts are modern and efficient with open plans, entry coat closets, kitchen “snack bars,” and full tub/showers in the bathrooms. Some of the unusual amenities of this project are the generous first floor community areas and storage for bicycles, scooters, or other possessions not needed in the apartments or on a daily basis.
The architectural imagery of the existing building is to be partially preserved and intertwined with the new modern elements introduced by the renovation. The memories of the city left by its old buildings provide a sense of history and continuity with the present.
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