Meet The Barrys. They are adjacent to each other, siblings of sorts. 1427 on the left with a dark and upright facade, 1421 on the right, a reimagined dingbat clad in perforated metal and smooth stucco. The two projects were commissioned by the same developer for extensive interior remodels and conversions into co-living apartments. Similar to our Butler Co-living Apartments, the design enlists creative storage and space saving solutions to present LA with a new option for housing.
The Barrys share a breezeway corridor down the middle lined with trees. These pockets of green can feel like the perfect temporary retreat in an otherwise concrete and asphalt jungle.
Micro-units in principle are not a new concept and compact all-inclusive rooms are the norm in global cities with much higher population density such as New York, Tokyo, and Hong Kong. As Los Angeles slowly but steadily deploys its future public transit infrastructure and converts from flat sprawl into multi-story, the push towards small makes sense as a new wave of inhabitants take a stand against excessive inessentials. This crowd embraces living simply without the expected household demands of an anachronistic vehicle-based Los Angeles stuck in the last century. Uber anyone?
Unlike some of our other projects, The Barrys share a breezeway corridor down the middle lined with trees that provide a privacy barrier between the exterior balconies without the imposing feeling of a solid wall. These pockets of green can feel like the perfect temporary retreat to escape the usual concrete and asphalt jungle.