Bentley-Massachusetts Apartments
Los Angeles
Kanner Architects

Horizontal lines and a restrained materials palette pay homage to a Modernist icon

© John Edward Linden

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Although their project is not directly in the shadow of two apartment buildings designed by Richard Neutra, the team at Kanner Architects strongly felt the Modernist icon’s influence. Their Bentley-Massachusetts apartment building, located in Los Angeles’s Westwood neighborhood, takes its cues from Neutra’s Landfair and Strathmore Westwood apartment buildings nearby, both of which opened in 1937. The Neutra apartments illustrate his intent to erase the distinction between indoors and outdoors, taking full advantage of Southern California’s bright sunlight and breezes. In Kanner’s own attempt to dissolve the boundaries between inside and out, the Bentley-Massachusetts building features large expanses of glass, while balconies draw light and fresh air into interior spaces.

Eleven two-bedroom apartments fill the first three levels of the building, while the fourth floor contains two, three-bedroom penthouses. All units feature nine-foot ceilings and an open plan for the kitchen, dining room, and living room. The architects cantilevered the building’s base and set it back from the property line, responding to the neighborhood’s active street life. The set-back also gives the block a sense of lightness, as though its main body floats above the recessed base. Echoing the base, the building’s top level steps back from the main façade, providing generous space for terraces and reinforcing the elevation’s horizontal composition.

Kanner’s restrained materials palette consists of smooth plaster, mosaic tiles, and a clear, anodized commercial window system. The architects believe this minimalism heightens the illusion that their building has two personas. Its daytime presence is that of a white ocean liner—horizontal and streamlined, filled with joy and optimism. At night, it takes on a more romantic, lantern-like quality as the expanses of glass outshine the white plaster fascias. Warm incandescent light spills onto the street, suffusing the neighborhood with a festive air. Simple landscaping harmonizes with the building’s Modernist aesthetic.

Formal name of Project:
Bentley-Massachusetts Apartments

Location:
Los Angeles

Gross square footage:
12,000 sq. ft.

Total construction cost:
$3 million

Owner:
Bentley Massachusetts LLC

Architect:
Kanner Architects
1558 10th St.
Santa Monica, CA 90401
310-451-5400 tel.
310-451-5440 fax
www.kannerarch.com