Registrar-Recorder, County Clerk Elections Operations Center / Lehrer Architects
Lehrer Architects were challenged to create an efficient, yet pleasant, space for those employed in the Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk Elections Operations Center. More-efficient storage space was also needed to house more than 1,200 pallets containing voting material and 5,000 new ballot reading and voter accessibility devices. Space was also allocated for the tax, birth, marriage, property, and death records for the County of Los Angeles, which are all stored here.
Architects: Lehrer Architects
Location: Santa Fe Springs, California, USA
Principal-in-Charge: Michael B. Lehrer FAIA
Project Manager: Travis Frankel
Project Team: Steve Deyer AIA, Yuri Osipov, Nerin Kadribegovic
Interior designer: Lehrer Architects
MEP Engineer: Airplus Engineering Consultants
Mechanical Engineer: Vector Delta Design Group
Structural Engineer: John Labib + Associates
Cost Estimators: Cumming Corporation
Fire Protection: Hughes Associates
Specifications: ANC/CSI
Environmental Graphics/Color: Lehrer Architects
General contractor: MTM Construction
Artist: Rebeca Mendez
Client: County of Los Angeles, Community Development Commission
Project Area: 110,000 sqf (existing single story tiltup concrete warehouse)
Photographs: Courtesy of Lehrer Architects
SOUPERgreen Exhibition
A+D, The Architecture and Design Museum of Los Angeles, presents Souper Green, an exhibition of new architectural work that offers a compelling alternative to the conventional idea of “being green” starting February 12th from 6pm-9pm to April 14th.
Highlighting the fact that technology is a key factor in the environmental crisis—to some a main cause, to others the best answer—this work questions the corresponding ways “green technology” is normally cast as a form of penance, and asked to “solve the problem” (as in “please-make-it-go-away-I-don’t-want-to-hear-about-it”). Instead, these five projects promote an attitude that looks at technology as a uniquely human means of expression, through which the “natural”—in its broadest sense—can be engaged and made more visible. More event description after the break.
Beaver Street Reprise / Craig Steely Architecture
This conceptually modern house fits contextually into its Victorian neighborhood, taking its cue from the “house above the shop” urban archetype that has existed for centuries. The first floor of the upper unit functions as an office, while on the second floor a split-level living room and kitchen open onto a deck with a small sod roof of California native grasses.
Architect: Craig Steely Architecture
Location: San Francisco, California, USA
Project Area: 1,500 sqf interior, 500 sqf exterior
Project Year: 2008
Photographs: Rien Van Rijthoven
Lehrer Architects LA / Lehrer Architects
Lehrer Architects purchased this 50 year old building in the Silverlake area of Los Angeles for a new work space. The once dingy and crowded 5,400 square foot warehouse was transformed into a working space of light, air, and transparency. More photographs and drawings following the break.
Architects: Lehrer Architects
Location: Los Angeles, California, USA
Design Principal: Michael Lehrer, FAIA
Project Designer/Construction Manager: Nerin Kadribegovic, Assoc. AIA
Project Architect: Robin Sakahara, AIA
Designer: Erik Alden
Designer: Steve Deyer, AIA
Interior designer: Lehrer Architects
Structural engineer: John Labib + Associates
General Contractor: Lehrer Architects
Lighting Designer: Fox + Fox Design
Landscape Aarchitect: Mia Lehrer + Associates
Client: Lehrer Architects LA
Project Area: 5,400 sqf
Photographers: Benny Chan/Fotoworks
Shalom Institute Dining Hall / Lehrer Architects
This project is about using extremely succinct moves to radically transform and ennoble an undistinguished old building, making it into a high-performing centerpiece of a precious 180 acre camp landscape in the Malibu hills. This run-down building has served thousands of campers over its 55 year history. It has been closed off from its context, effectively disconnecting itself from the outdoors for over half a century. With a limited budget and the virtual certainty of triggering significant environmental regulations with new construction, it was decided to try to save this underperforming, unremarkable building.
Architects: Lehrer Architects
Location: Malibu, California, USA
General Contractor: Lanet-Shaw Construction
Lighting Designer: John Brubaker Lighting
Structural Engineer: John Labib & Associates
MEP Engineer: Davidovich & Associates
Geotechnical Engineer: Geocon
Owner: Shalom Institute
Photographs: Courtesy of Lehrer Architects
Water + Life Museums and Campus / Lehrer Architects and Gangi Architects
The Water + Life Museums and Campus celebrate the infrastructure of water and its central role in the evolution of life and development in California. The first LEED Platinum Museums in the world, the design aims to place beauty and sustainability — an inseparable couplet — at the center of its agenda as an environmental showcase. The 15 acre campus houses two museums, Water – The Center for Water Education and Life – The Western Center for Archaeology & Paleontology.
Architects: Lehrer Architects and Gangi Architects
Location: Hemet, California, USA
LEED Consultant: Zinner Consultants
MEP Engineer: IBE Consulting Engineers
Structural Engineer: Nabih Youseff & Associates
Civil Engineer: KPFF Consulting Engineers
Landscape Architect: Mia Lehrer + Associates
Solar Power Consultant: Vector Delta Design Group
Lighting: Prudential Lighting
Contractor: Lehrer, Gangi Architects
Owners: Metropolitan Water District, Western Center for Archaeology & Paleontology
Project Area: 70,000 sqf
Project Year: 2007
Photographs: Fotoworks, Michael Lehrer
Architecture City Guide: Los Angeles
The Architecture City Guide series heads to the West Coast this week. Los Angeles area is huge and it was nearly impossible to narrow down 12 buildings for this weeks list. Here’s what we suggest visiting if you are in LA, but we want to know what additional buildings you think we should add to our list! Visit the comment section and provide your can’t miss buildings in LA.
The Architecture City Guide: Los Angeles list and corresponding map after the break!
AD Classics: Lovell House / Richard Neutra
The 20th Century was one of the most inspiring and progressive centuries for the discipline of architecture; Richard Neutra was one such contributor that has left his mark on modern architecture with his advancement of residential design. Prior to the Kaufmann House, Neutra design the Lovell House for Philip Lovell and his family in Los Angeles, California between 1927-1929. The Lovell House was the turning point in Neutra’s career, putting him on the architectural radar.
More on the Lovell House after the break.
Dry Creek Outbuildings / Bohlin Cywinski Jackson
These simply organized structures, a cottage and office, replace preexisting buildings that were inefficient, structurally compromised and in serious disrepair. Rebuilding within the footprints of the former structures allowed for the introduction of a clear relationship between the buildings and better response to the site. While architecturally similar, the two new buildings are programmatically diverse with the cottage housing the living elements of the program, and the office hosting the working component.
This project received a 2010 Design Award, Custom Residences Category AIA Housing Award, a 2010 Green GOOD DESIGN The European Center for Architecture and The Chicago Athenaeum, a 2009 Merit Award for Excellence in Architecture AIA San Francisco. More photographs and drawings of Dry Creek Outbuildings following the break.
Architects: Bohlin Cywinski Jackson
Location: Woodside, California, USA
Structural Engineering: Umerani Associates
MEP Engineering: C&B Engineers
Civil Engineering: Lea and Braze Engineering, Inc.
Landscape Architects: Patrick Brennan
Lighting Design: David Wilds Patton, Isometrix
Geotechnical Engineering: Murray Engineers
Acoustic Enginnering: Charles M. Salter Associates Inc.
Contractor: Van Acker Construction, Louis Ptak Construction, Inc.
Client Representative: The Rockridge Group, Ken Morrison
Project Area: 600 sqf Guest House, 550 sqf Caretake Cottage, 370 sqf Caretaker Office
Photographs: Nic Lehoux
Stay Down Champion, Stay Down / SPORTS
The Los Angeles design collaborative, SPORTS, has sent us their most recent project, a gallery installation in Hollywood, California. A description of the project and additional images are after the break.
AD Classics: Kaufmann House / Richard Neutra
One of the most important architects of the 20th Century, yet often overlooked, Richard Neutra has been on the forefront of modern residential architecture. After moving to the United States from Vienna, Austria in 1923, Neutra worked with Frank Lloyd Wright and Rudolf Schindler until 1930 when he started his own practice. One of Neutra’s several iconic projects is the Kaufmann House in Palm Springs, California. Completed between 1946-1947, the Kaufmann House was a vacation home for Edgar J. Kaufmann Sr. and his family to escape the harsh winters of the northeast.
More on the Kaufmann House after the break.
AD Classics: Getty Center / Richard Meier & Partners Architects
The Getty Center occupies a narrow, hilly stretch high above the San Diego Freeway in Los Angeles California. Jutting southward from the Santa Monica Mountains, the museum’s acropolis-like stature affords spectacular views over the city, the mountains and the ocean.
More on the Getty Center by Richard Meier & Partners Architects after the break.
Turrell Skyspace / Ogrydziak Prillinger Architects
Architects: Ogrydziak Prillinger Architects
Location: Sonoma County, CA, USA
Project area: 325 sq. ft.
Photographs: Ogrydziak Prillinger Architects
Design Unveiled for the Broad Museum by Diller Scofidio + Renfro
If you are a regular ArchDaily reader you know that we have been providing ongoing coverage of Eli Broad’s Broad Museum in Los Angeles. Nearly 120,000 sqf and $130 million dollars, invitations were given to six top architects to submit designs for the new museum. Rem Koolhaas, Herzog and de Meuron, Christian de Portzamparc, Ryue Nishizawa and Kazuyo Sejima, Diller Scofidio + Renfro and Foreign Office Architects competed and in August we informed you that Diller Scofidio + Renfro garnered the commission.
Today, the design for the Broad Museum has been released. Situated adjacent to Frank Gehry’s Walt Disney Concert Hall and Arata Isozaki’s Museum of Contemporary Art, the museum has become a key part of the Grand Avenue redevelopment project that has been losing steam.
Mines Road House / MacCracken Architects
Architects: MacCracken Architects
Location: Livermore, California, USA
Principal in Charge: Steve MacCracken
Project Architect: Hutch Mouradian
Project Manager: Mark Damrel
Structural Engineer: Enginious Structures (Sasha Itsekson – Principal)
Landscape Architect: Bruce Jett & Associates (Bruce Jett – Principal)
Lighting Designer: Ed Cansino Lighting Design (Ed Cansino – Principal)
Contractor: GIB Construction
Project area: 4,100 sq. ft.
Project year: 2010
Photographs: Rien Van Rijthoven
Creekside Residence / Bohlin Cywinski Jackson
Located in Woodside, California the Creekside Residence sits in its own natural world. The site is in a meadow surrounded by western oaks, Douglas fir, and aromatic bays that border two creeks that never meet. Bohlin Cywinski Jackson focused the design of the residence around the surrounding landscape creating cantilevered roofs and views to the environment beyond. This project received a 2009 Honor Award for Design AIA Pennsylvania and a 2009 Wood Design Honor Award. More photographs and sketches following the break.
Architects: Bohlin Cywinski Jackson
Location: Woodside, California, USA
Principal for Design: Peter Q. Bohlin FAIA
Principal in Charge: Gregory R. Mottola AIA
Project Manager: Denis Schofield AIA LEED AP, Associate
Project Team: Ben McDonald, Christopher Moore, Brian Padgett, Michael Waltner
Structural Engineering: Umerani Associates
MEP Engineering: C&B Engineers
Civil Engineering: Lea and Braze Engineering, Inc.
Landscape Architects: Patrick Brennan
Lighting Design: David Wilds Patton Lighting Design / Isometrix
Geotechnical Engineering: Murray Engineers
Acoustic Engineering: Charles M. Salter Associates Inc.
Contractor: Van Acker Construction, Louis Ptak Construction, Inc.
Client Representative: The Rockridge Group, Ken Morrison
Project Area: 10,200 sqf
Project Year: 2003-2007
Photographs: Nic Lehoux
Lectures: Excavating Innovation, The History and Future of Drylands Design
The human need for water has ordered landscapes, given rise to culture, and shaped architecture + urban form throughout history.
Excavating Innovation: The History and Future of Drylands Design examines the role of water engineering in shaping public space and city form, by using arid and semi-arid sites in India, the Middle East, the Mediterranean, and the New World to explore how dryland water systems throughout history have formed and been formed by ritual, hygiene, gender, technology, governance, markets, and, perhaps above all, power.
Excavating Innovation: The History and Future of Drylands Design brings together historians, urbanists, and contemporary designers to selectively excavate global historical case studies and reveal relevance to contemporary design practice.
The last two lectures will take place next January 27 and February 10. For more information, click here.
Video: eCloud Sculpture at San Jose International Airport
Taking inspiration from the behavior and volume of an idealized cloud, Dan Goods, Nik Hafermaas, and Aaron Koblin created eCloud an interactive sculpture for the San Jose International Airport. The dynamic liquid crystal scultpure hangs from the ceiling displaying weather data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. eCloud is constructed from polycarbonate tiles appearing as transparent and opaque depending on the pattern which is in constant motion transforming every 20 seconds.
Architecture City Guide: San Francisco
This week we are featuring San Francisco for our Architecture City Guide series. Thank you to all of our readers for adding their can’t miss buildings last week. We hope to see your comments below this week too.
Follow the break for our San Francisco list and a corresponding map!
Blue Sky Homes / Taalman Koch
Blue Sky Homes, the green building company whose prototype property was featured in Dwell magazine earlier this year, is set to commence its next project in January, with others in various stages of development. In addition, noted architects such as Linda Taalman & Alan Koch–the couple behind the famed, off-the-grid itHouse–have begun using Blue Sky Homes’ revolutionary Blue Sky Frame (patent pending) as the foundation for their own designs. Taalman-Koch have two current projects using the Blue Sky Frame: the Clearlake itHouse and the itHouse Cabin, both under construction in California. More images and description after the break.
Glass Townhomes / Sander Architects
The building is divided vertically down the middle to create a pair of three-story condominiums that use many of the eco strategies and materials that have become Sander Architects signatures. Playful architectural details include double-height translucent walls, exposed steel structure, cutouts in interior walls, and plywood railings and ceiling finishes. More about this project following the break.
Architects: Sander Architects, LLC
Location: Venice, California, USA
Client: Marc and Heather Venegas
Contractor: Icaza Construction and Bugsy Everett
Photographs: Courtesy of Sander Architects
