Courtyards at Rossmore & Weldon

2018 Residential Architect Design Awards / Outbuilding / Honorable Mention

“They really made something out of nothing. It’s so minimal, but I love it for the spirit of taking a disused alleyway and turning it into something wonderful.” —Stella Betts

The existing service courts of historic 1920s buildings on Los Angeles’ skid row are not where one would expect architectural invention. But Los Angeles–based Brooks + Scarpa have brought just that to three such extraordinarily tight spaces, by rejuvenating the courtyards at the Rossmore Hotel and the Weldon Hotel apartment buildings.

Two courtyards at the Weldon are bounded by the building’s five-story mass and adjacent two-story buildings. In both the 8-foot by 60-foot west courtyard and the 21-foot by 16-foot south courtyard, concrete pavers have replaced ordinary cement slabs and ill-conceived round pavers that previously dotted the ground. The perimeters are now lined with white gravel, and the same light-colored palette covers every surface of the renovated space. Poured-in-place concrete seats and tables provide durable and inviting places to sit and linger. Custom-designed white-painted steel pot holders on the white-painted CMU walls hold ordinary clay pots for planting. These pots can be left in the courtyards or taken by the residents to their apartments.

At the Rossmore, Brooks + Scarpa contended with a more generously proportioned service court, with a mature tree at its center. The architects deployed the same concrete pavers, white gravel, and white paint as at the Wheldon, adding a slatted screen and built-in bench to replace the motley fence that had previously enclosed the space. Additional rolling wooden benches can be moved along steel-angle tracks, allowing residents to sit separately or together as they choose.

Prior to Brooks + Scarpa’s renovations, these poorly lit courtyards, with their dark-toned materials, held little attraction for the residents. They seemed to function more as dumpsters than as shared amenities. Today, however, they are vibrant tenant social spaces—with architectural creativity on a budget proving the value of design in even the most constricted of locations.

See the full list of winners of the 2018 Residential Architect Design Awards.

Project Credits:
Project: Weldon Courtyards, Los Angeles
Client: Skid Row Housing Trust
Architect: Brooks+Scarpa, Los Angeles . Lawrence Scarpa, FAIA (lead designer; Angela Brooks, FAIA (principal-in-charge, project architect); Emily Hodgdon, Diane Thepkhounphithack, Eleftheria Stavridi, Arthur Vartanyan, Fui Srivikorn, Micaela Danko, Iliya Muzychuck, Jennifer Doublet, Yang Li, Yimin Wu (project team)
M/EEngineer: IEG Innovative Engineering Group
Structural Engineer: John A. Martin & Associates
Construction Manager: AMJ Construction Management
General Contractor: Snyder Langston
Landscape Architect: SQLA
Size: 800 square feet
Cost: $130,000

Materials and Sources:Concrete: Robertson’s Concrete; Concrete Collaborative (Trails pavers)
Lighting Control Systems: Lutron
Lighting: LED Edison string lights
Metal: Custom-designed and -made pot holders
Paints/Finishes: Dunn Edwards
Site/Landscape Products: Terra Cotta Fern/ Azalea pots, Nice (Corten steel planter)
Windows and Doors: Milgard

Project Credits:
Project: Rossmore Courtyard, Los Angeles
Client: Skid Row Housing Trust
Architect: Brooks+Scarpa, Los Angeles . Lawrence Scarpa, FAIA (lead designer; Angela Brooks, FAIA (principal-in-charge, project architect); Emily Hodgdon, Diane Thepkhounphithack, Eleftheria Stavridi, Arthur Vartanyan, Fui Srivikorn, Micaela Danko, Iliya Muzychuck, Jennifer Doublet, Yang Li, Yimin Wu (project team)
M/E Engineer: IEG Innovative Engineering Group
Structural Engineer: John A. Martin & Associates
Construction Manager: AMJ Construction Management
General Contractor: Snyder Langston
Landscape Architect: SQLA
Size: 800 square feet
Cost: $150,000

Materials and Sources:
Concrete: Robertson’s Concrete; Concrete Collaborative (Trails pavers)
Lighting Control Systems: Lutron
Lighting: LED Edison string lights
Masonry/Stone: CMU
Metal: Custom metal fabrication (steel cable)
Paints/Finishes: Dunn Edwards
Site/Landscape Products: Brazilian Cumaru (wood)
Windows/Doors: Milgard