29/01/10 – Los Angeles – Townhomes

Posted on: January 29th, 2010 | 11 Comments

Rock Row – 
Unit 7C
Design Project submission from Molly K

  • Frank

    [img]smalllotdiagramtop10.jpg[/img]

    John and Matthew:

    http://www.modative.com/small-lot-subdivision-projects/

    Here is a link to some information on Small Lot Subdivision from an architecture firm in LA specializing in small lot subdivisions called Modative. I included a sample diagram from there website. They have a well done PDF information packet available for download (with a email address). It includes the LA ordinance.

    They have some nice graphic presentations of their designs on their site and in the download. I am not sure if anything has been built yet and could not find any floor plans of their work to review for the project this week. Their website identifies a number of other cities in the LA Metro area have adopted similar ordinances. So it would appear that the small lot movement is spreading offering opportunities for more Slow Homes.

  • John Brown

    Frank,
    That is great information. Thanks very much for posting this. Very interesting. Matthew and I will certainly follow up on the Small Lot initiative when we are in Los Angeles and report back to the group.

  • BradW

    First, I cannot believe all the projects people are finding. I’d sure like to know where you get your stuff…Congrats to Jodi J, Eunice and Dominique for finding the nominees and for surviving the project discussion yesterday. Also, a nod to Louis and many others who found all those fast places.

    A fun week…I want to give some support to the ViveLosFeliz project found by orangeopolis and posted at the end of day 2. This is another small lot sub-division project similar to Rock Row and the Residences at Wilson projects and it is definitely worth a look.

    It looked like John was disappointed that he didn’t get to visit the beach. Don’t worry John, I’ve got you covered with my large single family home location in two weeks.

  • Louis Pereira

    Matthew | John,

    I was very pleased to hear more details about The Heyday Partnership and the fact they have a very striking similarity to Housebrand’s business model. It was a tough decision to make between all nominees, but I’m glad they were recognised for their great work, innovative practices and design initiatives.

    I also wanted to comment about the websites. I’m always disappointed when a Project website – good or bad – doesn’t mention the architect or discuss design or architecture, which often is a sure give-away of whether it’s FAST or SLOW. A good project will often recognise the efforts of the entire development team – and that should include a profile of the architect or designer and a brief discussion on the design and architecture. This demonstrates the commitment to good design by the developer and confidence in their consultant team that they are offering a quality product to the buyer.

    Matthew – I’ve enjoyed the housebrand’s LIVE videos of the 25′ wide lot project posted on your website and I hope to see more projects soon!

    http://housebrand.ca/category/architecture/housebrand-live/

    Speaking of narrow infill lots, I look forward to next week’s discussion on small lot single family residential. John is very much aware of my own struggles of trying to build something like this for myself in Edmonton. I hope to use some of the information and feedback from the topic and compare it with Edmonton’s own outmoded planning bylaws.

  • Mid America Mom

    John and Matthew thank you for sharing my open stair and banquette on this week’s design project.

    Regarding next weeks focus, it would be great to have some guidelines for this one as well.

    New construction happening now, already completed ? (thinking the single project by an architect highlighted on their website), or?

    What one considers small is relative (Japan comes to mind!). What size be it sq footage or width/depth of the lot and or residence did you have in mind? Thinking of the designs I have looked at this information can be hard to come by.

    Have a great weekend everyone!

  • Terri

    John/Matthew;
    Out of curiosity, what were the voting totals for each unit?
    Thanks to all for a stimulating discussion yesterday!

  • Molly K

    John & Matthew,
    Thank you for naming me “Slow Homer” of the week. I had no idea such an honor existed and I certainly didn’t think I would qualify. My design submission was a little nerve-racking. I spent so much time learning my way around the Bluebeam PDF Review software that I didn’t critique my submission as thoughtfully as I normally would have. I believe my future submissions will improve as I get more familiar with the software program. Thanks again.

  • Matthew North

    Louis – thanks for letting the group know about the “housebrand live” videos that are available on the housebrand.ca website. To answer your question about future episodes – believe it or not but we have filmed five other housebrand projects in their entirety from start to finish but have been so busy with the Slow Home site that we have had no time to edit and post them…..but I promise they will be available soon!

  • Matthew North

    M.A.M.

    Thanks for your feedback about having us provide some guidelines for next week’s search – as such we have included this in our episode which will air on Monday – let me know if you find the information helpful. Also, next week we are activating a new section on the website called “LEARN MORE” which will be on the right side of the web page – it is a series of about 20 short video segments that John and I have taped that explain in more detail how to use the Slow Home Test and what criteria is most important when analyzing the projects.

    For next week we are looking for homes less than 2500 square feet – we are not restricting the type of lot. I am excited to see what you can find! We need more people like you on the site – you are such a great contributor!

  • Matthew North

    Molly K – your award is well deserved! I look forward to your future submissions – for a first timer I was impressed and you have set a good example to all the “Slow Home Lurkers” who watch regularly but may be a little nervous to post something. The only way we are going to be able to collectively change the world and improve residential design is if we get as many people as we can to visit the site, post and comment! We want millions and millions of posts and I think this can happen!

  • Matthew North

    Terri – the vote spread was close – now wonder there was such heated debate!

    Rock Row 38%
    Sweetzer 33%
    Pier Point 29%