Shape-shifting apartment project planned in Hancock Park

Plans for a 14-unit apartment building in Hancock Park at the Hollywood border would bring a twisting, 11-story building to Rossmore Avenue.

Designed by Lorcan O’Herlihy Architects and developed by Metros Capital, the project would build up on a 7,000-square-foot lot to provide “maximum density while respecting the neighborhood context and community concerns,” according to LOHA.

The project’s height would create more space between the building and its surroundings, according to LOHA. More space between the building and its neighbors “makes the site more pedestrian friendly” by adding “breathing space” for residents between the building and the street.

The building’s curling design takes its inspiration from the curve in Rossmore Avenue near Melrose. Each floor turns incrementally, so there are no parallel sides on the facade, according to LOHA.

The result is that the building becomes a kind of optical illusion: from one direction, the top appears thinner than the bottom, but from the opposite direction, the opposite appears true. The effect also causes the shape-shifting building to appear to shrink in height, from eleven stories to six, depending on how passersby are viewing it, LOHA says.

The project is slated to break ground in early 2020, with completion expected in 2021.