The quaint houses and stucco apartment buildings on Mariposa Avenue in Pico-Union near Koreatown are about to get a flashy new neighbor. Lorcan O'Herlihy Architects have begun construction on a five story multi-residence building with an incredibly modern look, reports Urbanize LA. The project will house 32 residential units with underground parking and a rooftop deck. (It's not clear yet whether they'll be for-rent or for-sale units.)
The project's website boasts of its spacesaving efficiency: "The building derives from a pure square extruded upward to fit tight on its lot." In order to fit in amenities like balconies for each residential unit, the walls of the building are squeezed in toward the center, "creating curves that grant relief to a stark façade that retreats from the sidewalk, returning portions of the ground plane to the public realm," says ULA. This allows for window frames and balconies to protrude from the building in the space created by the squeeze.
The project, expected to be complete in 2016, is a couple blocks away from the proposed Olympic Gateway, a light-up net of lights set to stretch over Olympic at Normandie. The illuminated structure is planned to be accompanied by a park at Irolo and Normandie that will permanently shut the intersection of the two streets. —Jeff Wattenhofer
· Striking Residential Complex Rising in Pico Union [Urbanize LA]
· MARIPOSA [LOHA]
· Koreatown is Getting a Light-Up Gateway Spanning Olympic [Curbed LA]