north hill
North Hill engages a building that is integral to the layered historical fabric of the city.
Developed in the 1940s, this portion of LA’s Chinatown has historically sported a public face that invited the outside world, and a back stage where families lived and labored; and where the living had sometimes spilled into the alleys and plazas.
This hybrid pattern of use has drawn a new generation of inhabitants to the area. Through a grant from the Community Redevelopment Agency, we were tasked to redefine the building for new use.
LOS ANGELES CA
1800 SF
Photo:
JOSH PERRIN
DOUGLAS HILL
We started by striping the building down to its concrete shell and introducing a lighter infill of cabinetry and movable walls. The tall volume of the main gallery counterpoints intimate art-viewing areas and workspaces tucked away from public view.
At the facade, shifted planes of glass and steel create a perception of depth. An indoor-outdoor entry foyer dissolves the edge of where the street ends and where the private space begins.
A sliding and pivoting circular gate modulates varying degrees of openness for different events with playful reference to the changing phases of the moon.
