Arts District Lofts

Los Angeles, California

The Palmetto Work/Live Lofts is a community oriented mixed use project located on an important corner parcel at Mateo and Palmetto Avenues in the burgeoning Arts District.

Currently the properties contain a series of underused warehouses and a tow yard.  The site is bounded to the North by the thriving residential Barker and Molino Loft buildings, and to the East by new coffee shops and restaurants along Mateo Avenue.  The design intention with this project is to draw these neighborhood qualities in and through the new series of offset buildings and courtyards.

The street level along both Palmetto and Mateo is conceived as a porous series of retail and restaurant spaces, with openings between to courtyards and access to work/live creative offices and studios.  The main urban street axis to the North is extended through the project, creating the primary North-South courtyard.   Connections to the West are created with what will be a repurposed brick arched building into a farmers/ Chelsea market type use.  Connections to the coffee shops and restaurants along Mateo are created with large solid/void openings between the retail volumes.

The residential program on the floors above the retail and conceived as a mix of large and small units, grouped into smaller modules of 4-8 unit volumes that are offset from one another, reducing the scale of the building from the street, and relating closely to the surrounding building heights.  The openness between the volumes also creates terraces, circulation/ gathering spaces and floating gardens for the residents to use.  The residential gathering spaces include the rooftop deck/ pool area as well, with views toward the Downtown LA skyline. 

The building is developed as an exposed concrete load bearing wall structure with a modular bay size, such that slip forms can be utilized to minimize the formwork and expedite the construction schedule.  The other materials are glass, steel plate and some repurposed industrial oak detailing in the deck and on the stairs.  While a modern design, the intention is that in it’s simplicity and directness it connects to its Arts District neighborhood from the street, the public courtyards and all through the buildings.