Arch Tour Fest 2PM: Palms House I & II

Photo Credit: Benny Chan and Joshua White

Arch Tour Fest: Palms I & II | 2PM

This is an in-person tour. Attendees will be required to show proof of vaccination. Please read and check the agreement and safety boxes in the registration. Additional information regarding the tour and check-in process will be emailed directed to registrants 24 hours before the event. Tickets are non-transferable.

View the list of all Arch Tour Fest LA tours

Arch Tour Fest is presented by LG | Business Solutions

CES Learning Units: 1 LU

Palms House I & II combine to form a family compound 11 years in the making. The architects completed the original house and ADU at 823 Palms Blvd in 2010 for a young family. As their children grew and grandparents moved in, kdA designed a second residence on the adjacent property. The two projects together are a study in community, privacy, and flexibility.

Palms I and II both feature light-screening geometric terraces, the former of perforated sheet metal on aluminum frames and the latter of wood battens on steel frames. Palms II is formed of cast-in-place board-formed concrete below and wood framing above with an undulating ceiling of exposed joists and bespoke curving skylights. The shared courtyard and swimming pool bridge the two sites and serve as a central play space for the family’s children.

Architecture Firm: Kevin Daly Architects
GC: CA Construction
Structural Engineer: Workpoint
Landscape Architect: Plac-e

Tour Led By:

Kevin Daly, FAIA, Principal, Kevin Daly Architects
Kevin Daly is the founder of Kevin Daly Architects. For over twenty years he has pursued an architecture that delves into the paradoxes of the urban condition and the consequences of intervention. Projects by Kevin Daly express his belief in an architecture that is performative on every level: environmentally, structurally, economically, and aesthetically. Bolstered by abundant research, he has demonstrated the benefits of advanced, unconventional building technology in works that are consistently recognized in publications and awards, and range from public schools, custom residences, and university buildings to affordable housing. He is on the design faculty at UCLA and has served on juries or lectured at institutions internationally, including Stanford University, Cornell University, Rice University, SCI arc, the Architectural League of New York, the University of Texas at Austin, and RISD.

Gretchen Stoecker, Studio Director, Kevin Daly Architects
Gretchen Stoecker received her Bachelor of Architecture at Syracuse University and Master of Architecture at Yale University. As a designer for Selldorf Architects in NYC, she worked on the Neue Galerie museum and residential projects for five years before joining KDA in 2005. Gretchen brings a refined sensibility and technical expertise to the wide range of buildings and systems that make up the KDA portfolio, from site cast concrete residential projects to innovative terra cotta rainscreens, precast GFRE building envelopes, and ETFE glazing systems. Gretchen has managed multiple projects with unconventional delivery systems, including design/build enclosures and MEP systems at the LEED Platinum Ostin Basketball Center at UCLA. As project manager, her attention to client needs and ability to coordinate sprawling design teams have enabled the success of several award-winning KDA projects. Gretchen’s interest in architectural history and LA modernism continues, as she lives in a historic building designed by a famous postwar architect. She is a registered architect in the State of New York.

Katie Chuh, AIA, Project Engineer, WORKPOINT Engineering
Katie Chuh joined WORKPOINT engineering in 2016 after completing her Master’s in Architecture at the University of California in Los Angeles. She received her Bachelor’s in Structural Engineering from the University of California in San Diego in 2015. Katie has participated in a wide range of projects including multi-family, custom single-family houses, educational projects and commercial buildings.

Learning Objectives:
1. Participants will learn how to approach an architectural dialogue between projects across phases and timeframes.
2. Participants will learn how to create visual and acoustical privacy between residential units on a tight urban site. Balance need for privacy with shared and collective indoor and outdoor spaces.
3. Participants will learn how to explore daylight harvesting strategies, including the use of skylights and strategic glazing, and orientation of openings.
4. Participants will learn how to identify storm water collection strategies and its integration with the landscape and architecture. Landscape can be used as a backdrop and screening element.
5. Participants will learn how to investigate the use of self-weathering durable materials, such as cast in place concrete and thermally modified wood cladding.