Civic and Institutional Archives

Pio Pico Pocket Park and Parking Structure

October 18, 2022/in Civic and Institutional, On the Boards/by Jeffrey Morris

The Pio Pico Library Pocket Park and Parking Structure will consist of a public park located on-grade, at the location of the current surface parking lot that serves the Pio Pico Public Library. This area is one of the most park poor in the City, with a very dense population. The
Park is intended to serve the neighborhood and visitors to Koreatown. It will function as an outdoor extension of the Library providing reading areas and social spaces for Library patrons. The project will also include façade enhancements to the public library, which fronts directly onto the park. The library’s new façade will include a new building logo that will form a bold graphic on the building and will help to enliven the identity of the park. This much-needed new public park for Koreatown will ameliorate the neighborhood’s hard surfaces with a softened multi-purpose outdoor public space that is vibrant, colorful, and functional. It will be a space that the entire Koreatown community (and indeed, the City) can enjoy. Part plaza, part event space, part play and recreation area, Pio Pico Pocket Park will also nurture a greater understanding of biodiversity and environmental sensitivity through its design elements and embedded graphics. As such, it will provide a great venue for outdoor learning and library activities.

DCTWRP Maintenance Facility

October 18, 2022/in Civic and Institutional, On the Boards/by Jeffrey Morris

The new Donald C. Tillman Water Reclamation Plant (DCTWRP) Maintenance Facility will include approximately 48,000 SF on two stories. The building is divided into two programmatic volumes connected by a common roof. The volume to the south includes the warehouse on the ground floor, which provides storage space for all parts, materials, and portable tools required for the maintenance of the DCTWRP. Above it on the second floor is the facility’s main administrative wing, with three closed offices and a workroom, as well as three conference rooms that will be used to hold meetings and training sessions. Movable walls between the conference rooms will allow the three separate spaces to be combined into one large room that can accommodate over 100 people. Portable, modular furniture will make a multitude of furniture layouts possible. In addition to upgraded shops and warehouse, the new facility will house all required support functions including offices, conference rooms, library, lunchroom, locker rooms, and other programmatic elements. The facility will be LEED certified with a target of LEED Gold.

City of Anaheim Crew Quarters Building (CQB) and Sustainability Education Center (SEC)

October 18, 2022/in Civic and Institutional, On the Boards/by Jeffrey Morris

The City of Anaheim’s Public Utilities Department will replace its current field office building with a new state-of-the-art facility – Crew Quarters Building, or CQB – that will establish inspiring and efficient workspace and support services for both field workers and those permanently stationed there. In addition, on a nearby property facing Vermont Avenue, a new Sustainability Education Center (SEC) will provide the community with an classroom, training, and exhibit facility that will educate the public about sustainability, available technologies, and resources, and the latest in single-family-home advancements. To address the latter, an 800 SF demonstration home will be included within the SEC that will showcase the latest affordable appliances, electronics, and materials that can be found in the typical American middle-class single family dwelling. The SEC will also include a large demonstration garden that will be used to hold outdoor classes and events and host larger-scale outdoor exhibits. The project, currently in Schematic Design, is expected to be completed by Spring 2022. It is envisioned that the SEC will attain Net Zero Energy performance, and serve as a model for other cities.

Palmdale SAVES Navigation Center

March 24, 2022/in Civic and Institutional, Residential, On the Boards/by Jeffrey Morris

Situated in an area of the City of Palmdale planned to undergo higher-density, pedestrian-friendly development centered on a forthcoming California High Speed Rail station, the proposed 58,000 SF Palmdale SAVES Navigation Center will provide vital preventative services to those at risk of becoming homeless, as well as assist currently unhoused individuals and families by providing temporary emergency shelter. In particular, the facility will host a large new food pantry at street level that expands upon an existing food bank operated by South Antelope Valley Emergency Services (SAVES). Above, two levels of interim housing will provide the critical shelter component.

Consulting closely with housing and service providers within the Antelope Valley and across the country, and building upon the organizational framework of SAVES’ existing food pantry, JFAK empowered the new facility to serve widely varying needs of distinct demographics by, first, designing each floor to operate self-sufficiently, and second, incorporating adaptability into the spatial organization of each floor. Larger spaces are left open to allow for multiple functions to be handled within, and services are grouped together in central locations to allow all other activities to flow freely around them. This balance between fluidity and separation fosters flexibility for operators of the various on-site services.

The careful attention to functionality as well as adaptability, within a sculptural, iconic design that presents an optimistic face to the City, addresses the pressing needs of the community while acknowledging the dramatic urban transformation of which it is a critical part. The project embodies Palmdale’s commitment to ensuring that its evolving urban core is accessible and welcoming to all.

NAVIG8 – Council District 8 Homeless Navigation Center

August 30, 2021/in PROJECTS, Wellness, Civic and Institutional/by Jeffrey Morris

Located in an underserved neighborhood in South LA, this 5,700 SF public facility provides much-needed services for the unhoused, including: Personal Storage in secure, mobile bins; Personal Hygiene (showers and toilets); and informal Counseling. In order to speed construction, reduce waste, mitigate pollution, and create an affordable, replicable prototype, the building was constructed of prefabricated modules assembled on-site.

Notably, the structure dignifies homelessness with an iconic, civic-scaled design that has a strong street presence. Rather than hide away, it stands out and welcomes our family, friends, and neighbors in need of assistance. It acknowledges the power of architecture to destigmatize and to celebrate our common humanity; it is an uplifting addition to LA’s constructed public landscape. The iconic gable “house” form alludes to the homelike services provided here, while the same form used upside-down suggests that home can be anyplace; home is where one makes it.

CIVIC

August 4, 2021/in Civic and Institutional, Residential, On the Boards/by Jeffrey Morris

CIVIC reimagines the West LA Civic Center (WLACC), which currently houses an abandoned courthouse, outdated senior center, underutilized central plaza, and functioning library and municipal office building. The design transforms WLACC into a vibrant new mixed-use hub of residential, civic, and commercial life – and suggests what thoughtfully-designed urban living in Los Angeles might offer in the near future.

CIVIC celebrates WLACC’s mid-century modern character through balanced but dynamic and widely varied massing that responds sensitively to the surrounding context. Its overall density is moderate, but its variation allows the accommodation of increased numbers of residents and types of uses. Importantly, the corner of Corinth Ave and Santa Monica Blvd becomes a new welcome point, drawing pedestrians and visitors using mass transit into a dynamic necklace of connected and inclusive public spaces that come together to form a new “Town Square.” Taller, higher-density buildings are located along Santa Monica Blvd. Lower-density townhouses line Iowa Avenue at the south. The park and plazas of the Town Square are bordered by retail, existing library, and relocated bandstand, and are anchored at the northeast entry by a vibrant new senior center.

CIVIC’s architectural expression celebrates heterogeneity as a defining characteristic of our richly diverse and vibrant metropolis. The market-rate housing helps to subsidize the affordable and senior housing. The project, with its distributed varieties of housing and amenities, welcomes all ages, incomes, and races – and eschews privatized living in favor of interaction and community.

Cumulus at The Sunset

January 25, 2021/in Civic and Institutional, Commercial, On the Boards/by Jeffrey Morris

Cumulus suggests dynamic new possibilities for urban signage within the framework of The Sunset, a re-visioned, pedestrian-oriented retail and wellness development at Sunset Plaza. Cumulus takes the place of three existing static signage elements on The Sunset property that will be demolished, and is a sculptural steel structure holding two new static signs positioned for maximum visibility from cars traveling both east and west along Sunset Blvd. Cumulus establishes a striking silhouette in the skyline of West Hollywood and acts as a gateway connecting the contrasting physical landscapes of the City; ground with sky; and the immediacy of the pedestrian experience with the more distant, 35-mile-per-hour view. It is a technological garden in the sky.

Cumulus is placed atop The Sunset’s easternmost building. Approximately one-third of its overall surface area is planted; the remaining convex surfaces are painted to replicate nature. The two static signs are pressed into the richly three-dimensional volumes of the frame, and the concave indents that surround the signs are rendered white to offer up the highest possible contrast between billboards and frame, image and context.

Through both its form and its greenness, the frame advances the City of West Hollywood’s and The Sunset’s common mission to advance pedestrianism, connectivity, and human-centeredness – ingredients that make up a uniquely urban sustainability. As a “cloud”, it also refers to our ubiquitous information cloud. But while information technology has its pitfalls, Cumulus uses it to humanize our world by providing a whimsical spectacle to be marveled at, one that provokes wonder and perhaps even joy. Cumulus also enhances the often alienating automobile experience to be richer and more surprising.

Cumulus, in reframing the billboard atop The Sunset, defines a familiar terrain anew.

Listen In

October 29, 2020/in PROJECTS, Civic and Institutional/by Jeffrey Morris

Listen In is a public sound art installation spearheaded by United Way of Greater Los Angeles that expresses, through a dynamic interaction of space, material, and sound, the mission of its “Everyone In” campaign to end homelessness. Listen In asks that all individuals take a moment to listen, reflect, and become engaged in shaping a brighter future for our City – a future in which every person has a roof over his, her, or their head; a future in which affordable housing is available and accessible to all.

Listen In is comprised of 19 self-supporting steel tube tripod structures, each framing 6 suspended wind chimes, that can be arrayed in an infinite number of patterns at any site in Los Angeles. The 114 individual chimes sound out 10 different notes and can be activated by wind, manually at random, or by musicians performing in concert. With a multitude of colors, tones, and lengths – but always organized within the protective frame of a tripod – the chimes represent the singularity and complexity of human beings in society. While the importance of the individual voice is celebrated, so too is the need to join together, to ignite the power of the collective.

KANM Concept Studies

February 12, 2020/in PROJECTS, Civic and Institutional/by SAdesignsJFAK

SK Swim Center

February 12, 2020/in PROJECTS, Wellness, Civic and Institutional/by SAdesignsJFAK

Located in a new park between Ulsan’s ragged urban edge and a national forest, this 50,000 SF structure clearly defines the city’s boundary, providing a much-needed recreational facility for this ad hoc, industrial city. The swimming hall is set under its own high floating roof while its locker rooms, the park’s administrative offices, and a visitors’ center are condensed under a curving roof plane that slopes down to the park’s entrance. A result of simultaneously addressing the park’s entrance, avoiding an existing underground culvert, and maximizing the promenade facing the lake, the building’s curved form also serves to naturalize the building’s large size.

An open space between the visitors’ center and the entry to the pools creates an outdoor foyer that provides protection from the elements and welcomes people entering the park on foot. The swimming hall provides views of the mountains and lake outside, and the collection of pools is further activated by natural light from numerous skylights. Responding to the toughness of the urban condition, the long, primarily opaque elevation facing the city is clad with corrugated aluminum panels and lead-coated copper.

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