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Formosa 1140 Illa Del Mar Ironhorse at Central Station 243 Broome Street and 97-99 Ludlow Street 1020 Pine Street 60 Richmond Housing Co-Op Tahiti Affordable Housing The Lacey Yale Steam Laundry CondominiumsTahiti Affordable Housing
Owner: Community Corporation of Santa Monica
Date Completed: July 2009
Tahiti Affordable Housing, Santa Monica, California
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Program: A 38,575-square-foot housing complex made up of six three-story buildings, all connected by a central courtyard crisscrossed with elevated walkways. Smaller courtyards and gardens are spread among the 36 units, half of them two bedroom and the rest three.
Design concept and solution: Charged with building the complex around a central public space (a requirement for affordable housing in Santa Monica), Daly Genik sought to balance visibility with privacy, and to maximize ventilation and daylight to keep energy costs low. The architects wanted to avoid the customary "doughnut" configuration of buildings circling an open yard, where noise can travel easily and tenant windows are often in plain view. Instead, they fashioned a system of lush, bamboo-shaded walkways passing through and over the courtyard. With each walkway serving no more than two units, activity remains visible but is kept at a remove. The units are slightly staggered atop one another, creating balconies on alternating sides of each building. Full glazing on both sides of the units helps prevent heat retention, and cross-ventilation between balconies and windows makes air conditioning unnecessary. The bamboo planting in the courtyard contributes to the complex's passive cooling strategy and doubles as a storm-water retention basin.
Total construction cost: $6 million.
Architect:Daly Genik
1558-C Tenth Street
Santa Monica, CA 90401
t. 310 656 3180
f. 310 565 3183
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