Brise Soleil is a 50-unit multifamily residential development positioned just steps from Santa Monica Boulevard, asserting a strong architectural presence while offering a sense of retreat within a dense urban infill site.

The project's defining architectural move is its front façade: a secondary steel frame that pulls away from the building's primary structure, standing as an independent armature in front of the residences. This steel framework serves multiple roles simultaneously — it supports private unit balconies, extending living space outward from the building face, while embedded screens woven into the frame double as railings and sun-shading devices. The result is a single, unified system that is at once structural, functional, and expressive, giving the building its distinct identity along the boulevard.

This layered steel screen elevates the building both literally and conceptually — lifting the residences above the street while transforming what could be a conventional apartment façade into an architecture of depth, shadow, and texture. Behind this outer layer, residences organize around a central open-air courtyard, with the brise-soleil system providing a thermal barrier that reduces solar heat gain and supports the building's LEED Platinum equivalency.

A two-story concrete arbor marks the entry, while a rooftop terrace and shared amenities — theater, fitness areas, meeting rooms — support live/work lifestyles above the city. Through the pulled-away steel armature alone, Brise Soleil achieves what its name promises: a building defined by light, shade, and a façade that does more than enclose.