Inspired by the palm tree and designed to reestablish contact with nature in a post-pandemic context, this 15-unit LEED Gold-targeted apartment building in West Los Angeles integrates local plants—including a 90-year-old sycamore—into a “treehouse” aesthetic. Merging nature with architecture, it features Corten steel, insulated glazing, board-formed concrete, and salvaged wood, with palm trees on every level.
Passive cooling strategies
To maximize unit height within local regulations, 1946 Overland is partially submerged, passively cooling its public lobbies. Garden halls on the southwest facade further reduce HVAC demand. Balancing speculative development goals with a more welcoming pedestrian realm, the building uses a concrete podium, wood superstructure, and steel framing to support high-performance glass expansions. Open upper-floor bays house plant-filled loggias, improving air circulation, cutting carbon emissions, and providing shared workspaces next to apartments. Skylights bring in additional daylight.
Neighborhood connection
Pocket gardens link the structure to the street, engaging the adjacent charter school and cyclists. Industrial steel is shaped into refined forms echoing palm trunks, adopting a deep orange color. Board-formed concrete continues into the lower lobby, blurring indoor-outdoor boundaries and recalling palm bark textures.
The design includes drought-tolerant palms in planters and at ground level, forming a semi-public garden. The front half of the roof holds a grouping of palms in large terra cotta containers for shade. Added balcony support accommodates additional palms, reducing heat gain in summer. Weathered steel at the front facade mimics palm trunks and fronds, framing the sycamore and blending with nearby greenery. This oxidized steel illustrates time’s passage and is held by curving steel ribs, while a 4-inch board-formed concrete veneer conserves embodied energy.
Addressing developer targets for maximum square footage and cost efficiency, the design utilizes plant-filled loggias that improve air quality and reduce environmental impact, with six skylights delivering natural light. Operable windows connect top-floor units to the loggias, promoting communal interaction and accommodating work-from-home needs.
Fire resistance and cooling
A 4-inch concrete veneer at the front and south facades, supported by wood framing, combines lowered carbon impact with fire protection, segmenting the exterior between poured concrete and wood structure. Steel fins slow fire damage. Deep, open loggias with cementitious flooring function as “working terraces,” managing heat. Targeted window placement, exterior wood blinds, and fast-growing palms shield the second floor from heat, while a partly submerged ground floor adds to natural cooling. Adapting to Los Angeles’s mild climate, the building offers year-round outdoor access, including a rooftop deck with communal vegetable gardens.
