The Courtyard at La Brea

Project Design

The Courtyard at La Brea (2014) in West Hollywood was designed by Patrick Tighe, architect of highly expressive buildings including Sierra Bonita and Pacific Landing, and John V. Mutlow, a longtime designer and professor specializing in affordable housing and the “design of buildings that will endure the test of time.”

The result is a complex of 32 apartments for people living with disabilities, over ground level retail, that has architectural verve and deep sensitivity to human needs.

The main elevation faces directly onto a highly trafficked thoroughfare, La Brea Avenue, and its corner serves as the entrance to the building, with common spaces and circulation. “We wanted the building to have a bold, strong presence,” Tighe told KCRW radio station when the building opened. “The people that live here are also bold and strong and we want that to be reflected in the design.” So they wrapped the corner in decorative metal ribbons, screens and panels (fabricated by Andreas Froech.)

On ascending by staircase or elevator, residents and visitors arrive in a soaring courtyard (landscaped by Mark Tessier), open to the sky and filled with bamboo. Mutlow told KCRW that this courtyard was the “most important aspect” of the complex, in part because it connects to a legacy of courtyard buildings in West Hollywood.

As with many of the complexes in The Angeleno Porch installation, the open court also offsets the density and smallness of the dwellings while, critically, bringing in natural light. Then, says Mutlow, the generous lobby and courtyard give the residents a “sense this is a wonderful place to be.”

For Tighe Architecture, these social spaces echo porches. The firm says, “Our buildings are designed both for and with the community. The porch in the form of a balcony, a courtyard, a terrace or the entry of a building allows for and encourages the fluid exchange of ideas, stories, and support. The porch nurtures a deep sense of belonging and interdependence. The spatial dynamic of the porch fosters social engagement and results in positive community building.”

More about The Courtyard at La Brea.

More about Tighe Architecture and John V. Mutlow Architects.

More about Sierra Bonita and Pacific Landing, also designed by Tighe Architecture.

More about West Hollywood Community Housing Corporation.

Back to The Angeleno Porch Homepage.

Reflections

When I first moved in here, I thought, oh, a courtyard, well, this is interesting… and then, within a few weeks, you could see a few people out there, and then you saw people taking walks around the courtyard as exercise, and everybody would smile and talk to each other. I thought the courtyard would cut us off from our neighbors but it has opened it up to where everybody, once they got used to each other, we became like a little family. 

We’re right here on La Brea, which has lots of traffic and noise, but the moment you walk in, you take a little breather. There’s something about the bamboo, the greenery, the plants, there’s just something peaceful about it. Whoever designed this building really gave thought to just giving the tenants’ pleasure out of the architecture and the openness of the courtyard. It’s so important. Instead of a closed off apartment complex, you need that openness. It makes you feel free and safe, safe and sound.
—Angelo, Resident’

Top: The Courtyard at La Brea, façade. Photo by Art Gray; Bottom, left: courtyard in The Courtyard at La Brea. Photo by Art Gray; Bottom, right: Angelo, resident. Photo by Frances Anderton.