CASE STUDY 2.0: LONGHOUSE

Location: Los Angeles, CA
Project Size: 3,075 sq. ft.

From its inception as a place of intellectual and spiritual gathering in harmony with nature, to its evolution as the home of cultural, creative and environmental stewardship, the Pacific Palisades stands poised to re-emerge from the ashes of devastating fire, invigorated by the Case Study 2.0 project. We envision the same potential for the rebuilding effort across greater Los Angeles. With an eye toward compliance across a range of parcel sizes, we’ve developed a modular system that meets local code and zoning requirements, addressing key considerations including building area, height, and setbacks. Our goal is to propose a design that meets baseline target costs outlined in the project brief, while allowing for expansion, customization and upgrade by current and future owners.

Inspired by the promise and proof of concept of the Sears, Roebuck and Company Catalog of Homes, the original Case Study Houses, and the essence and utility of the indigenous communal Longhouse, our proposal offers the advantages of a prefabricated, site-assembled building system with inherent design variability, flexibility, increased resilience, underpinned by creative project engineering and product delivery.

Our design philosophy is rooted in the principles of modularity and mass timber construction, leveraging prefabricated engineering and construction methods. Our proposed building envelope and finishes include refined and sustainable components for predictable assembly, facilitating selection of variable elements including roofing, cladding, windows, doors, wall and floor finishes, kitchen and bath assemblies. All specified components are part of a carefully crafted catalog offering, allowing the longhouse model to adapt to program, site, climate, and topography.

PROJECT TEAM

Working Group 1

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