Urbanize.LA: Concept Designs Unveiled for "A Bridge Home" Facilities

CONCEPT BY JFAK ARCHITECTS AND RELM STUDIO

ULI Los Angeles - in coordination with the office of Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti - recently tapped a trio of architecture firms to create conceptual designs for emergency shelter facility's under the "A Bridge Home" program, which is intended to help homeless Angelenos transition into long-term housing.

The three architecture firms - DLR Group, Studio One Eleven, and JFAK Architects - worked with three landscape architecture firms - EPT Design, RELM Studio, and SWA Group - on three different site challenges: a 50-bed site, a 100-bed site, and a 150-bed site.

According to a press release, ULI Los Angeles is currently working with CBRE and Gensler to identify suitable sites in each of the 15 Los Angeles City Council Districts that are owned by government agencies to facilitate the development of these temporary shelter facilities.

Read more at urbanize.LA

LA Times: Architects were asked to design appealing homeless shelters on a $1-million budget. Here's what they came up with

CONCEPT DESIGN BY JFAK ARCHITECTS AND RELM STUDIO

CONCEPT DESIGN BY JFAK ARCHITECTS

The designs — depicting shelters of 50, 100 and 150 beds — produced by a group of architects working pro bono in support of Mayor Eric Garcetti’s $20-million initiative to build shelters in all 15 of Los Angeles’ City Council districts.

The goal is to come up with standard designs that could be placed on a lot anywhere in the city, and are pleasing enough to help the shelter plan overcome its two biggest obstacles: First is the reputed aversion homeless people have for the dreary conditions in shelters. Then there’s the almost inevitable community opposition that shelter proposals encounter.

The architects were recruited by the nonprofit Urban Land Institute. Working independently, all three teams came up with similar ideas for easing the isolation and regimentation of traditional shelters, where cots are lined end to end in a large building with limited access to the street.

Read more

John Friedman and Alice Kimm speak at AIA|LA Design for Dignity Conference

Design for Dignity is an annual conference organized by the Los Angeles branch of AIA. Currently in its third year, the conference will serve as a forum to discuss best practices and strategies for addressing the regional homelessness crisis. During the day-long event, architects, designers, urban planners, civic leaders and community activists will all convene to share their insights.  

Alice and John have both been asked to speak at the upcoming Design for Dignity AIA | LA conference. John will talk about the urgent and temporary design strategies for shelter and amenities, while Alice will lead a panel entitled “On Accelerating Innovative Design & Development of Permanent Supportive Housing & Services.” During the panel, she will discuss with other architects and designers to seek answers to pressing questions for alleviating poverty and preventing homelessness. Overall, they will both contribute to the ongoing conversation surrounding the design and creation of temporary and permanent homeless shelters in Los Angeles.

To register for the upcoming Design for Dignity conference, click here.

JFAK Awarded Maintenance Facility Project for the Donald C. Tillman Water Reclamation Plant

JFAK is proud to have been selected as the architecture team for the maintenance facility project at the Donald C. Tillman Water Reclamation Plant. This project involves the construction of a new 3-story maintenance building, which will be approximately 37,000 SF, and a new 1-story warehouse building, which will be approximately 11,000 SF. The project, estimated to be 28 million dollars, will utilize an inventive program to unite office spaces, wood and electrical shops, locker rooms, break rooms, meeting rooms, warehouses, and more. The maintenance facility will remain operational throughout the duration of the project while the team designs a new space to replace it. JFAK is excited to begin design, and looks forward to working closely with the City Project Manager to create a new maintenance facility by 2023.

For more information on a similar past project, see JFAK’s adaptive reuse design for the La Kretz Innovation Campus.

JFAK Participates in ULI “Shelter Challenge"

On May 9th, John Friedman and Lolade Frankel were invited to participate in a “Shelter Challenge” for the Urban Land Institute in collaboration with the City of Los Angeles Mayor's office.

The challenge combined various Los Angeles design teams with the main purpose of collectively brainstorming solutions for homeless shelters. During the meeting, architects worked in groups to outline various designs of impermanent structures that could help to alleviate the issue of a lack of temporary homeless shelters in Los Angeles. JFAK worked alongside esteemed colleagues from firms such as EPT DESIGN, SWA Architects, Studio One Eleven, DLR Group, and RELM. John and Lolade experimented with the idea of a tent, recontextualizing it as a group living area and shared space rather than a single person dwelling. After the event, JFAK followed through by creating an illustrative site plan in collaboration with landscape architecture studio RELM as well as renderings that were presented to the Mayor’s office.

About the Urban Land Institute: The Urban Land Institute is a nationwide non-profit that aims to tackle urban design challenges. They have studied homelessness and land use in Los Angeles for years, and their team has suggested design solutions for addressing land use issues at the heart of the current homelessness problem. After drafting ideas and proposals, ULI often presents their findings to city planning and design offices: in this way, they are able to affect concrete change and solve urban design issues. Read more on  ULI Advisory Board study on homelessness in Los Angeles.

Architect's Newspaper: For L.A.-based start-ups, a downtown tech incubator offers a boost up

ARCHITECT'S NEWSPAPER | "Meet the incubators and accelerators producing the new guard of design and architecture start-ups. This is part of a series profiling incubators and accelerators from our April 2018 Technology issue. 

At the Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator (LACI), participating members get a lot of bang for their buck. Originally started in 2011, the outfit moved in 2016 into a 60,000-square-foot complex, known as the La Kretz Innovation Campus and owned by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. The campus is one of the inaugural public amenities of a new Cleantech Corridor planned by the City of Los Angeles for a vast area stretching from the Lincoln Heights neighborhood, in East L.A., to the Arts District, downtown."

Read more on Architect's Newspaper website or in the April issue of the Architect's Newspaper!

JFAK to do Instagram takeover with AIA National for #ARCHWEEK18

JFAK is proud to announce that we will be taking over the AIA National Instagram account on Monday, April 23! Join us there to see what we're up to at the office, and follow us on Instagram to see and learn more about our practice @jfakarchitects. 

Benny Chan to receive 2018 Julius Shulman Photography Excellence Award

Our photographer - and we are proud to say, friend - of over twenty years, Benny Chan, will receive this year's 2018 Julius Shulman Institute Excellence in Photography Award.  The Julius Shulman Institute presents the prestigious award to an early or mid-career artist whose work embodies the legacy of architectural photographer Julius Shulman. It features a notable roster of recipients, including Todd Eberle, Hélène Binet, Grant Mudford, Pedro E. Guererro, Catherine Opie, Richard Barnes, and Iwan Baan. Click through to read the full story on Archinect. Our most heartfelt congratulations to Benny!

JFAK is hiring!

Do you have what it takes to join our team? Check out the open positions below! If you think you would be a good fit for any of the roles below, please visit the listings on Archinect to see how to apply. 

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PROJECT MANAGER

John Friedman Alice Kimm Architects (JFAK) is seeking a detail-oriented, and self-motivated individual with excellent technical skills and a deep knowledge of accessibility codes and requirements for immediate full-time employment.  

The ideal candidate has:

• 5-8 years of professional experience
• Knowledge of code, ADA, and accessibility requirements is absolutely necessary
• Ability to produce working drawings for accessibility site work
• Proficiency with AutoCAD is required for this position
• Ability to work on/manage multiple projects simultaneously
• Extensive experience in Construction Documentation, Construction Administration, and Project Management  
• Experience with DSA is highly preferred
• Experience with LAUSD or other public entities is highly preferred
• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Architecture

See Project Manager post on Archinect.

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JUNIOR DRAFTSPERSON

John Friedman Alice Kimm Architects (JFAK) is seeking motivated individuals with strong architectural drafting skills for immediate employment.  Qualified candidates will work both independently and on teams, on documentation, and construction administration.

The ideal candidate must have:

• Minimum of 2 years of professional experience drafting architectural drawings
• Degree in Architecture or Drafting Technology
• Strong proficiency in AutoCAD and Microsoft Office Suite

See Junior Draftsperson post on Archinect.

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JUNIOR/INTERMEDIATE DESIGNER

John Friedman Alice Kimm Architects (JFAK) is seeking motivated individuals with strong design skills for immediate employment.  Qualified candidates will work both independently and on teams, on all phases of design, documentation, and construction administration.

The ideal candidate must have:

• 3 - 5 years of professional experience
• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Architecture
• Construction Document experience preferred
• Proficiency or at least a working familiarity with Revit preferred
• Strong proficiency in AutoCAD, Illustrator, InDesign, Photoshop, Rhino, and Microsoft Office Suite

See Junior/Intermediate Designer post on Archinect.

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Alice Kimm, FAIA, to be on AIA|LA Residential Awards Jury

March 28, 2018—The AIA|LA is delighted to announce the jury composition for the 2018 AIA|LA Residential Architecture Awards: 

• Mike Deasy - Chief Executive Officer, deasy/penner 
• Alice Kimm, FAIA - Partner, John Friedman Alice Kimm Architects (JFAK)
• Alissa Walker - Writer; Urbanism Editor, Curbed

Visit the AIA|LA website to learn more about the Residential Awards, or click here to see one of last year's winners, JFAK's Peace Creek Villas.

Alice Kimm, FAIA to be on 2018 AIA Arizona Design Awards Jury

AIA Arizona has announced the jury composition for the 2018 AIA Arizona Architecture Awards: 

• Christian Robert, AIA, NCARB | R&A Architecture + Design Inc.
• Alice Kimm, FAIA | John Friedman Alice Kimm Architects
• David Freeland, AIA | FreelandBuck
• Patrick Tighe, FAIA, FAAR | PatrickTighe Architecture
• Rebecca Rudolph, AIA | Design, Bitches

Visit the AIA website to learn more about the award program.

Urban Land Magazine: 10 Projects Leveraging Public/Private Synergies

"The following ten projects—all built during the past five years—showcase a variety of creative approaches to bringing the public and private sectors together to provide sorely needed infrastructure, economic revitalization, transit-oriented housing, and community resources...Local architecture firm John Friedman Alice Kimm Architects renovated a 61,000-square-foot (5,700 sq m) masonry warehouse, built in 1903, to accommodate offices, conference rooms, laboratories, prototyping workshops, and event space, as well as laboratories for the LADWP. Completed in 2016, the facility offers open, semi-open, and closed workspaces." Read more about this and ten other projects here.

89.3 KPCC AirTalk: That $500 million home for sale in LA

Alice Kimm was a guest on KPCC's AirTalk this week, discussing a new high-end residential complex and its effects on Los Angeles real estate.

Housing prices keep going up in Southern California, making homeownership out-of-reach for many Angelenos. As the city and state tackle the housing crunch and affordable housing issues, one of the most expensive homes in America is on the market right here in L.A. It’s a behemoth in Bel-Air that features 20 bedrooms -- the largest one clocks in at 5,500 sq ft, four swimming pools, and a commercial-size beauty salon. And the asking price? Just $500 million. Would a listing like this change the high-end real estate game in L.A.? Could this spur a nuclear arms race of over-the-top houses? Who might actually buy such an expensive building?

Listen into Alice Kimm's interview on Southern California radio KPCC above, or visit the KPCC website to read on!

Grand Opening of UCLA Kinross Recreation Center (KREC)

JFAK's newest project, the UCLA Kinross Recreation Center (KREC) is now open for the exclusive use of UCLA Graduate students and faculty. This 9,900 SF structure includes cardio and strength equipment, outdoor fitness area, a fitness studio and lockers. Learn more about the project here. 

Urban Excellence Award Ceremony Honors La Kretz Innovation Campus

LOS ANGELES (October 25, 2017) - The La Kretz Innovation Campus was awarded the Rudy Bruner Silver Medal for Urban Excellence during an awards ceremony that took place at the campus today. 

LACI CEO Matt Petersen's Opening Remarks

LACI CEO Matt Petersen accepting the $10,000 award from Simeon Bruner, Founder of the Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence

John Friedman, Alice Kimm, and Simeon Bruner, Founder of the Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence

Linda Duttenhaver La Kretz, Morton La Kretz, and Simeon Bruner

Gary Lee Moore (LA BOE), Ari Simon (Councilman Jose Huizar's Office), Nancy Sutley (LADWP), Matt Petersen (LACI) and Simeon Bruner

Featured speakers at the Awards Ceremony included:

• Los Angeles City Councilmember Jose Huizar's Downtown Area Director, Ari Simon 
• Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti’s Chief of Staff, Ana Guerrero
• Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) Chief Sustainability Officer, Nancy Sutley
• Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator (LACI) President and CEO, Matt Petersen
• Los Angeles Bureau of Engineering City Engineer, Gary Lee Moore, PE ENV SP
• John Friedman Alice Kimm Architects Principal, Alice Kimm
• Morton La Kretz and Linda La Kretz Duttenhaver
• Rudy Bruner Award Founder, Simeon Bruner

The Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence (RBA) is a national design award recognizing transformative urban places distinguished by their economic and social contributions to America’s Cities. Completed in 2016, the La Kretz Innovation Campus + Arts District Park were created to position the City of Los Angeles as a cleantech industry leader and sustainable urban center. LACI's CEO Matt Petersen accepted the $10,000 award check on behalf of the campus. Funds will be used to bring students and artists from disadvantaged neighborhoods, including Boyle Heights and Watts, into the campus to learn about The Advanced Prototyping Center and work with the organization’s new Artist in Residence (AIR) program.

One of an architect's greatest accomplishments, after completing a building, is seeing it take on a life of its own. And this project clearly has done that - it is a clear example of what can happen when public and private sectors work together towards a common goal. This project is the embodiment of the greatness of the City of Los Angeles, and we are so proud.  - Alice Kimm

Envisioned as an industry hub where engineers, scientists, and policymakers interact to promote the development of clean technologies and LA’s green economy, the La Kretz Innovation Campus occupies an LADWP-owned 3.2-acre parcel of land in the center of the vibrant Downtown LA Arts District.

John Friedman Alice Kimm Architects is the only submitting firm in the award's twenty-year history to have two of their projects selected as finalists. Their LA Design Center was awarded a Rudy Bruner Silver Medal in 2007. 

Click here to see the official press release from the City of Los Angeles.