Andmore Partners developed and designed the four-floor, 13,677-square-foot Rampart Loft project with the concept of architecture as urban catalyst in a vehicle-dominated concrete jungle. Los Angeles is a city known for traffic congestion as well as its underutilized public transit system, resulting in most people navigating the decentralized city by car. Many buildings in L.A., therefore, are experienced through moving vehicle windows. Rampart Loft was designed with this in mind.
Rampart Loft dynamically reaches out from its busy intersection, invoking a sense of movement through shape and color, thereby insistently standing out from the concrete jungle background. Rather than being built in separate layers vertically, floor by floor—as are most apartment buildings—the Rampart Loft space progresses across the horizontal line, creating a seamless curved form from East to West and around the South vertical wall. The lines of the building blend into a bold floorless work of art, rather than a traditional wedding cake-like design (basement is split from upper floors). The curved exterior creates a feeling of continuity as each vehicle approaches and passes by. White and steel-grey define the building and serve as a backdrop to emphasize the vibrant vertical pops of the city’s iconic sunset colors: red, orange, yellow. The smooth flow of recognizable colors defines the building against—while at the same time blends it into—the urban cityscape.
The architects/developers focused on a target market of young professionals in creative fields, such as film and technology. Open floor plans for flexibility, ample bathrooms, home-office space, natural light, outdoor spaces, and pops of bold color address this demographic. Even though located in a borderline neighborhood, the architects gave the building both boldness and transparency to integrate it into the area, rather than isolate it behind a high, impersonal fence.
Around the street-level perimeter of the building are varying elevated layers of concrete walls topped with generous plantings. Unlike most gates, which have vertical, jail-like bars, Rampart Loft’s entrance and parking gates minimize vertical lines, and are perforated for shadowed transparency. These gradual, unobtrusive boundaries between the public street and residents’ private spaces create a sense of belonging on both sides: residents have privacy and safety while still being able to openly engage and feel a part of their neighborhood. Instead of a solid form disrupting the neighborhood, the building harmonizes as a part of the community, for a pleasant experience for passers-by.
