Isla Intersections

2020 RADA Award Winner
On the Boards, Citation
Isla Intersections
Los Angeles
Lorcan O’Herlihy Architects

As on-the-boards projects go, Isla Intersections from Los Angeles– based Lorcan O’Herlihy Architects is animated by a clever and innovative idea. Located on a marginal site in South L.A., a stone’s throw from the juncture of two major highways, this speculative scheme calls for a below-market residential development of more than 50 units housed within irregularly stacked steel containers, all connected by aerial catwalks and surrounded by landscaping and public amenities.

Container-based design schemes may be commonplace, but this one distinguishes itself both through its sensitivity—softening the visual effect of the metal boxes with broad windows and rooftop gardens—as well as its practicality: Conventional construction would be challenging on the narrow, less than 20,000-square-foot lot, one of thousands of seemingly unusable parcels the city government is now seeking to dedicate to affordable housing. A resourceful approach like LOHA’s not only puts that goal within reach but also enriches civic life for everyone.

Subtle interventions include a curving “paseo”-style roadway complete with shops that encourages pedestrian traffic along La Isla’s western flank, and a mixed massing of both mid- and low-rise stacks that step down to meet the scale of the adjacent neighborhood. Just as importantly, the residences themselves don’t sacrifice quality for cost: Each nearly 500-square-foot unit includes all the modern conveniences as well as views of the surrounding greenspace.

PROJECT CREDITS
Project: Isla Intersections, Los Angeles
Architects: Lorcan O’Herlihy Architects [LOHA], Los Angeles.
Landscape: Superjacent
Traffic: Crain and Associates
Imagery: Lorcan O’Herlihy Architects [LOHA]