SITE

The client is a family trust with a focus on art initiatives for youth. Their intention is to convert a former residential property located along the beaches of Los Angeles into a demonstration for a sustainable media environment.

 

PROGRAM:

The project brief called for; 1) privacy in the galleries and an open connection from the sculpture area to the oceanfront site and landscape, 2) sustainability and long term ecological sensitivity, and 3) Natural lighting conditions for the art collection and living areas. The project is an attempt to resolve these issues by layering formal, ecological, contextual and systemized concerns into a unified built environment, taking cues from and deferring to the amazing site and ocean/landscape. The project is developed as a series of sections/animation frames that are connected via a constantly evolving script

 

CONCEPT:

Techniques of Stop Motion Animation are used to generate the logic of the project, unifying the formal section of the built environment with the horizontality of the site narrative. Rhythms of the Sun, the flow of tides, weather cycles and topographical undulations are analyzed as a series of frames. Similarly, the voyeuristic relationship between beachcomber and the gallery dweller are analyzed and compiled with layered image frames of program and system.

 

TECHNIQUE:

The project replaces a house burnt down several years ago on a beachfront lot in Venice, California. The scale of the project is two thirds of the allowable building envelope for the site and takes into consideration contextual issues of existing sight lines, topographical undulation to sea level, climatologically efficiency. It uses the footprint of the original house with gallery areas cantilevered from the second level. The project utilizes several innovations to maximize project sustainability including solar power (active and passive), wind orientation and stack effect ventilation, water management appliances, grey-water sewage biological processing and reuse onsite, nontoxic material usage, thermal gain efficient window openings and high insulation value cladding. The site work includes extensive soil remediation from a prior septic tank, using long term landscape plantings to remove soil contamination.

 

CONSTRUCTION INNOVATION:

The project utilizes Computerized CNC milled steel frame construction. The entire structural frame is prepared (drilled, sheared and notched) using steel detailing/engineering CAD software which is fed to the CNC milling machine allowing the two, double cantilevered structure to be built very precisely and efficiently. The frame undergoes a hot-dip galvanized process to prevent corrosion and allows subsequent recycling of structure. The electrical system is based on a dual wattage solar power assisted grid. The primary grid is a 24 volt (high amperage) DC system used for powering lighting and servo motors for louvers, wall openings and parking lift. This grid is tied directly to the roof mounted solar array. The 110 volt AC grid powers household appliances and is connected to a step up transformer which converts solar DC current to 110 volt AC and is tied to the city power grid.