US Residential Project
MAD Architects reveals 8600 Wilshire, a residential project located in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles. 8600 Wilshire is MAD’s first US project and demonstrates founder Ma Yansong’s core design philosophy: to coalesce nature and community into a living environment among high-density cities.
Bringing the nature found on the adjacent foothills of Los Angeles into the city of Beverly Hills, 8600 Wilshire mimics a small sinuous white hill boasting an 18-unit residential village atop commercial space. Clustered white glass villas and trees ascend upward to contour the Beverly Hills skyline and to provide a distinctive streetscape on Wilshire Boulevard.
Rendering. Image Courtesy of MAD Architects
The ‘hillside village’ offers a variety of housing types for city residents, including three townhouses, five villas, two studios and eight condominiums. The massing of the village cultivates community with the added benefit of individual balcony-patios to maintain independence and privacy. Villa residents experience a balance between public and private as the incandescent villas appear opaque from the street, yet reveal a transparent façade facing the private garden, townhouse and condominium units.
The village is wrapped in a water-efficient ‘living wall’ of native, drought-tolerant succulents and vines. Undulating around perforated windows on the facade, this vertical garden extends the interior space to the exterior balconies and provides a natural green-screen for the condominium residents. Along Wilshire Boulevard, the living wall lifts off the ground to reveal glass storefronts at ground level. The resulting effect is a floating plinth that resembles local privacy hedges and conceals an elevated courtyard. Hidden away from the street is an elevated courtyard accented by a canopy of trees and native plantings. At the center of this secret garden is a water feature flowing gently to a secondary reflecting pool in the lobby below. As residents leave in the everyday bustle of the city, they find solitude at 8600 Wilshire in a garden valley – at home in nature.
Interior. Image Courtesy of MAD Architects
“In high-density cities, Modernist and Post-Modernist housing typically prioritized functions and formats over human relationships to the environment“, MAD explained. “For 8600 Wilshire, MAD considers the possibility of a new model for West Coast vernacular amid the sprawling density of Los Angeles“.
8600 Wilshire is expected to break ground in October 2016. The project is newly honored in the ‘design concept’ category at the 45th Annual Los Angeles Architectural Awards, hosted by the Los Angeles Business Council.
Interior. Image Courtesy of MAD Architects
Project Info:
Architect : MAD Architects
Location : Los Angeles, USA
Project Year : Expected to be 2016
Total Area : 48,000 square feet
Directors : Ma Yansong, Dang Qun, Yosuke Hayano
Associate Partner : LU Junliang(Dixon)
Design Team : LI Guangchong, Flora Lee, Cesar D Pena Del Rey, Jeffrey Miner, Joanna Tan, Chris Hung-Yu Chen
Executive Architect: Gruen Associates
Landscape Architect: Gruen Associates
Interior Designer: Rottet Studio
Structural Engineer: John Labib & Associates
MEP Engineer: Breen Engineering Inc.
