Located at number 1819 Pico Boulevard, one of the most important streets in the Californian city of Santa Monica, is a building of 48 homes designed by the architecture studio Brooks + Scarpa.

The architects try to move away from the way they design the surrounding buildings to offer a housing solution around a patio. This housing typology has some history in Southern California, from Irving Gill's 1918 Horatio Court to the Ambrose Gardens of the Spanish Colonial Revival. According to Ken Bernstein, many of the apartments built with patios sought to generate indigenous architecture.

The architects at Brooks + Scarpa seek to provide a connection to the street and the neighborhood and a sense of place. The homes are located around a semi-public space, the patio, to generate a certain feeling of privacy and security with respect to the street, while allowing a visual connection between all the common spaces.

The program is distributed over four floors and includes a total of 48 homes with one, two and three bedrooms, which are accessed through a corridor that runs along the perimeter of the patio. To emphasize the connection and provide service to the neighborhood and the Santa Monica College, located opposite, 622 square meters of the ground floor are allocated to commercial premises.


1819 Pico by Brooks + Scarpa. Photograph by Brooks + Scarpa.

Description of project by Brooks + Scarpa

This totally electric “Net Zero” 100% affordable housing project is certified LEED Platinum and has an astounding pEUI of 6.6, more than 8x more efficient than typical similar buildings who average 59 pEUI.

Offering shelter and comfort, 1819 Pico eschews the typical neighborhood defensive apartment buildings with solid walls and fences in favor of a carved-out cube, a beacon in the neighborhood that celebrates social space by de-emphasizing private space. Strategically placed windows, purposeful exterior circulation and units that wrap the outer-most edges, orient the 48 apartments to social spaces that are spatially apart, yet visually connected to each other and the street below.  


1819 Pico by Brooks + Scarpa. Photograph by Brooks + Scarpa.

Courtyard apartments have a rich history throughout southern California ranging from Irving Gill’s 1918 Horatio Court to the classic post-World War ll Spanish Colonial Revival Ambrose Gardens.  According to Ken Bernstein, director of preservation issues at the Los Angeles Conservancy, a lot of the courtyard apartments build during this time, especially in Hollywood and West Hollywood, was part of a search for indigenous architecture,” he says, as much as an attempt to create neighborliness. More than any other multi-dwelling housing, courtyard apartments, “make you feel like you belong to a place.”  For people living around the courtyard, the space provides a sense of safety and privacy; the courtyard is a quasi-public space that mediates between the home and the street. For the city at large, the courtyard is an urbane housing type that fits well into neighborhoods.

Located directly across the street from Santa Monica College, the building also includes  community space and 6700 square feet (622 square meters) of ground level retail.

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Architects
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Project team
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Lead Designer.- Lawrence Scarpa, FAIA.
Principal in Charge.- Angela Brooks, FAIA.
Project Manager.- Fui Srivikorn.
Micaela Danko, Jeffrey Huber, FAIA, Dionicio Ichillumpa, Eric Mosher, Flavia Christie, Iliya Muzychuk, Eleftheria Stavridi, Arty Vartanyan.
 
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Collaborators
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Structural Engineer.- Labib Funk Engineering.
MEP Engineering.- Idiaz Design.
Civil Engineering.- Labib Funk Engineering.
Landscape Architect.- Tina Chee with Brooks + Scarpa.
Solar Consultant.- CalSolar, Inc.
LEED Consultant.- Alternate Energy Systems.
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Contractor
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United Building Corporation.
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Area
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52,200 sq. ft.(4850 sqm), 49 units (0.57 acres) 86du/acre.
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Dates
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2022.
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Location
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1819 Pico Blvd, Santa Monica, California, USA.
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Budget
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$21.8 mil.
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Manufacturers
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Masonry.- Angeles Block Company.
Metal.- Custom Perforated Screens Metal Sales, Inc.
Concrete.- Type ll Portland Cement with 25% flyash, LM Scofield Lithochrome stain.
Wood.- Composite floor truss joists by Weyerhaeuser, Micro-lam and parallam composite beams by Truss Joist Corporation, Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified oak flooring, cabinets, and structural wood.
Exterior.- Recycled Portland Cement Exterior Cement Plaster with integral finish.
Windows.- Arcadia, Alpine, US Aluminum Corporation.
Glazing.- Solarban 80 by PPG.
Skylights.- Bristolite, Solatube International, Inc.
Doors.- TM Cobb, Timely, Steelcraft Manufacturing Co., McKeon Door Company, Nationwide .Industries, Anemostat Door Products, Total Door Systems.  
Hardware.- Schlage, Trimco, LCN, Ives, Rixon, Monarch, Pemko, Johnson, Elmes.
Roofing.- 4-ply Modified bitumen membrane cool roof by CertainTeed Corporation.
Flashing.- Celotex, GAF corporation, Grefco, APOC.
Cabinets.- Recycled Formaldehyde free MDF and FSC certified oak.
Paints.- Non-toxic zero VOC Paints by AFM Safecoat.
Paneling.- Recycled Formaldehyde free MDF, Recycled-Content Gypsum Board with 31% recycled content (26% post consumer waste), Dens-Glass Gold by Georgia-Pacific.
Flooring.- Ecotile by Walker Zanger, concrete and FSC certified oak.
Lighting.- Shaper, Bega Prudential, Stonco, Belfer, Del Rey Lighting.
Controls.- Lutron.
Insulation.- Blown in cellulose insulation is 98% recycled. Recycled-Content, Formaldehyde-Free Insulation Batts by Johns Manville.
Fixtures.- American Standard, Kohler, Bobrick, Grohe, Chicago Faucets, Toto, Delta.
Appliances.- GE, ISE, Bosch, Fagor, Bertazzoni.
Insulation.- Recycled-Content, Formaldehyde-Free Insulation Batts by Johns Manville.
Other.- Storm water catch basin and filter system by Stormwater360, Contech, Inc., Cabinet hardware by Sugatsune, Basco and E.B. Bradley.
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Photography
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Brooks + Scarpa.
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Brooks + Scarpa is a collective of architects, designers and creative thinkers dedicated to enhancing the human experience. Honored with the 2014 Smithsonian Cooper- Hewitt National Design Award, the firm is a multi-disciplinary practice.

Founded in 1991 as Pugh + Scarpa, the firm changed its name in 2010 to reflect the current leadership under Angela Brooks, FAIA and Lawrence Scarpa, FAIA. Today, Brooks + Scarpa is a 25 person interdisciplinary practice involved in rigorous design and research that yields innovative, iconic buildings and urban environments.

With more than one hundred significant national and international awards and thousands of publications awards include; the Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt National Design Award, National and State of California American Institute of Architects Firm Award, The Lifetime Achievement Award from AIA California Council and Interior Design Magazine, Architectural Record Houses, Architectural Record Interiors, The World Habitat Award and The Rudy Brunner Prize. 

The firm’s work has been exhibited worldwide including venues such as The Museum of Contemporary Art Los Angeles, The National Building Museum, Portland Museum of Art, the Gwanju Bienale and has also appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show.
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