SUNSET FLATS, SUNSET BLVD, ECHO PARK, LOS ANGELES, CA.

The Echo Park community area of Los Angeles, once a bit of a gang haunt, has, over the years, become the center of a burgeoning arts, culinary and music scene.  The existing community fabric of older buildings was always visually appealing with its high concentration of craftsman bungalows and mature landscaping. Gone are the gangs, now replaced by upscale coffee houses, boutiques and eateries.  Into this area we have been tasked with the design of a 63 unit multifamily mixed use development with some affordable housing units.  The site, comprised of 5 parcels, spans between Sunset Boulevard on the South, to Elsinore, the multifamily residential street which parallels to the north.  Our project has two faces, one facing Sunset, designed to be more urbane, and one, more craftsman in form and detailing, facing the multifamily residential area to the north.  The site is a steep upslope from Sunset Boulevard, and is developed into a tiered building which has 10000 sf of commercial space on Sunset Boulevard, parking 1 level above, and then 3 levels of housing above that.  The housing component is stepped back from Sunset Boulevard with a deep landscaped terrace to protect the residential units from the noise of the street while providing them with exterior use areas filled with sun and maintaining privacy and views over the city.