Granville 1500

This project was selected as a Honor winner in the 2021 Residential Architect Design Awards, Student Housing category.

"There is a lot of attention to quality construction for such a big project. The bones are strong and can easily accept different furniture and decor to evolve as personalized temporary homes.” —Juror Kimberly Sheppard, FAIA

Designed by locally based Lorcan O’Herlihy Architects, Granville 1500 comprises three faceted and distinctive blocks that open to Los Angeles’ Santa Monica Boulevard. The 153-unit, 320,000-square-foot student housing project replaces a car dealership, exemplifying how mixed-use infill can help move a city from car-centric sprawl toward a denser, pedestrian-friendly experience. Ground-level retail engages the street while a raised podium conceals parking and creates a protected open space with a swimming pool for residents one story above the sidewalk.

Corrugated metal panels clad the five-story structures, while asymmetric triangular cuts in the volumes intensify different parts of each building by widening the sidewalk, visually connecting the second-floor podium to the street, and allowing more daylight to reach the pool. The composition creates an urban village of eccentric public spaces, transforming what could have been three simple blocks of housing into a compelling place of spatial interest.

Located within a 10-minute drive of the University of California, Los Angeles, the complex offers below market–rate housing to the school’s medical students and staff, embedding academic life within the neighborhood.

PROJECT CREDITS
Project: Granville1500, Los Angeles
Client/Owner: CIM Group
Architects: Lorcan O'Herlihy Architects. Lorcan O'Herlihy, FAIA (principal-in-charge), Judson Buttner, Damian Possidente (project leads), Giovanni Fruttaldo, Maria Galustian, Chris Gassaway, Rosemary Jeremy (project team), Abel Garcia (project assist)
Landscape Architect: LA Group Inc.
Interior Designer: Ariel Fox Design
Structural Engineer: John Labib & Associates
Civil Engineer: John Labib & Associates
Size: 312,287 square feet

Materials and Sources:
Appliances: Whirlpool
Façade Plaster: Omega Products
Amenity Spaces Floor Tile: Built-Path. DDS, Roman and Erwan Bouroullec, WOW
Residential Units: Kember Ecoklik Wood
Courtyard Floor Tile: Tile Tech Porce-Stone
Countertops: Qortstone
Amenity Spaces: Marset, Tech Lighting, Pablo
Residential Units: WAC, Rich Brilliant Willing
Exterior Lighting: Bega
Façade Metal Panels: Metal Sales T10-C
Millwork: Kember Pressure Laminate
Amenity Spaces Wall Tile: Stone Source
Residential Units: Tile: Daltile
Residential Units Window Treatments: Mechoshade
Balcony Doors: VPI Bellevue Series
Storefront Glazing & Doors: Arcadia