Located in close proximity to the MTA Exposition Line Expo / Western station, Metro at Western Housing is situated along a bustling commercial corridor of neighborhood-serving mom-and-pop shops on Western Blvd. The project illustrates a diagrammatic approach to design, starting with the essential building blocks of the program, which are then shaped by the external constraints that act upon it. The project provides 16 two- and three-bedroom units for families and 16 one-bedroom units for homeless veterans.
© Panic Studio LA
The program also includes social services, a community room, a 2nd-floor garden terrace, and a roof deck. Three stories of high-density apartment stock are placed over a ground-level parking podium. The residential floors feature open-ended corridors to provide ample cross-ventilation throughout the length of the building. External forces, such as the fine texture and smaller scale of adjacent single-family residences, and the traffic speeding by on Western, push and pull on the massing, refining its form.
© Panic Studio LA
The forces generate a roof deck on the south end of the structure as well as an overhanging front façade, creating the opportunity for a green landscaped corridor at the pedestrian level. A narrow courtyard adjoins the backside of the building on the second level, providing a garden refuge lifted above ground level and sheltered from public view. The main façade can be read as a blank white canvas punctuated by openings, bordered by projecting shading fins, interacting with the environment and creating a pixelating effect that pops with color.
Project Info
Architects:the architects collective
Area: 48775 ft²
Year: 2019
Country: Los Angeles, United States
Photographs: Panic Studio LA
Manufacturers: AutoDesk, Carlisle SynTec, James Hardie, McNichols, Trimble
Lead Architect: Richard Prantis
MEP Engineering: S.Y. Lee Associates Inc.
Consultants: CalSolar, Biohabitats
Structural Engineering: David Choi & Assoc.
Civil Engineering: DK Engineer Corp.
Landscape: Mark Tessier Landscape Architecture
Design Team: Richard Prantis, Matthew Donnachie, Fabiola Esquivel, Stephen Ramirez, Carla Cortes, Andrew Crane, Tina Alimirazaee, Houra Khani
Clients: Meta Housing
