64North | Miramar Gold

Los Angeles at a turning point: with commute times ever-increasing, the city can no longer grow outward and is now transforming into a metropolis characterized by density rather than the automobile. Similarly, the impact of homelessness and housing affordability is profound, as Angelenos struggle to address this significant challenge of providing their fellow-citizens with the homes they deserve. The city’s Westlake District is similarly transforming, as this historic part of the city fabric is increasingly shaped by new development spreading from the adjacent downtown core. Miramar Gold, a 7-story, 94-Unit, LEED Gold project that provides affordable and permanent supportive housing, creates a new future to address these many challenges for the city, its residents, and the neighborhood, simultaneously.

Miramar Gold is a kind of vertical neighborhood, its facades shaped by a diversity of fenestration and a series of shaded balconies which extend the vitality of the streetscape upward. The project is organized as two distinct masses surrounding a central courtyard, their twinned volumes floating above the activity of the public realm beneath. The facade is shaped by a Mondrian-like grid of aluminum battens which provide shading and animate the building’s exterior as the sun moves overhead throughout the course of the day, creating an ever-changing interplay of light and shadow. Within this matrix, colored elements carry the hues of the surrounding neighborhood into the expression of the building itself. The project will be constructed entirely of prefabricated volumes craned into place, speeding the overall construction timeline, drastically reducing construction waste, and improving overall build quality.

The project includes larger affordable units for families and one-bedroom apartments for the formerly homeless. Community, social services, and public programs at the ground level are arranged as a series of glass pavilions in the midst of a contemplative garden landscape, also designed by 64North, which incorporates both spaces for reflection and a children’s play area at the project’s center. Above this central courtyard, a series of bridges knit the two volumes of the building into one, their irregular cerulean figures providing visual interest and places to gather. Finally, the building’s rooftop houses a solar array and an expansive community garden in which residents can enjoy exceptional views of the adjacent downtown skyline.

“The design for Miramar Gold creates a beautiful, thriving community that is architecturally significant and amenity-rich… for families with three or more generations included and newly housed families. The character of Miramar Gold will reinforce the benefits of our people-centric, community-oriented design principles.”

M A T T M A S O N, W H C H C
D I R E C T O R O F D E V E L O P M E N T

S E R V I C E S

Architecture, Interiors, Landscape & Lighting

T E A M