South LA Prototypes, Los Angeles
Award Judges Special Award
Units 5 single-family homes
Size 1,300 square feet per home
Home Price $280,000 to $315,000 (assistance averages $40,000 per family)
Target Market Low- to medium-income families earning 80% to 120% of AMI
Builder Dreyfuss Construction, Los Angeles
Developer Restore Neighborhoods LA, Los Angeles
Architect Lehrer Architects, Los Angeles
Funding Sources HUD Neighborhood Stabilization Program
Photography Courtesy Lehrer Architects
For more details about this project, check out our exclusive video coverage.
South Central Los Angeles sounds like an unlikely destination for builders—to many, the neighborhood is the very definition of urban strife and unrest. Think again, says Nerin Kadribegovic, Lehrer Architects principal and project architect for the South LA Prototypes. Here, modern architecture brings affordable market-rate housing and what Kadribegovic calls an “aggressively optimistic attitude” to the neighborhood. Kadribegovic admits that he had never set foot in South Central until the project began. He knew that, in a neighborhood this old, he at least had infrastructure going for him. But what he didn’t bargain for was the close-knit feeling he encountered. “After spending time in the neighborhood, we saw rich architectural history and texture, plus community spirit and pride that was alive and thriving.”
The homes were designed for small lots that varied from 25 feet by 125 feet to 40 feet by 140 feet. The design challenge: A single prototype that would fit in nine different lots of those varying dimensions. “Every space is leveraged to perform several functions. It was a beautiful problem to solve, to design the minimum number of prototypes that would satisfy all the lot sizes,” says Kadribegovic, adding that at this scale, maximum efficiency was the only way to make the numbers pencil out. The beauty of these houses, he points out, is that they can be set down anywhere in the world, in a variety of lot conditions. “A desire to connect to the outdoors isn’t unique to California,” he says.
“At $180 per square foot including landscaping, we’ve been able to provide a wonderful progression of indoor spaces, natural light, seamless indoor/outdoor living that goes beyond the front and rear yard, a direct connection to the garden, plus vivid colors to organize and animate space. That’s not usually found in this type of housing,” Kadribegovic says. Is this project just another sign of hipster gentrification? “That’s easy to say, but the facts don’t line up,” says John Perfitt, executive director of Restore Neighborhoods LA. “I don’t see gentrification happening on a large scale here. We’re moving neighborhood people from rental to homeownership and a chance at something that, with luck, will increase in value. Most homeowners on the street are thrilled with this new injection.”
Learn more about markets featured in this article: San Francisco, CA, Los Angeles, CA.
