Arch Tour Fest: Flor 401 Lofts | 12:30PM

Photo Credit: Eric Staudenmaier

Arch Tour Fest: Flor 401 Lofts | 12:30PM

Arch Tour Fest – Full List of Tours Here

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

Architecture Firm: KoningEizenberg Architecture

CES Learning Units: 1 LU

Tickets Available Below & Passes Available Here

Flor 401 Lofts was completed in November 2020 for a not-for-profit housing provider. Residents include individuals who were formally unhoused, many of whom live with mental illness and/or substance abuse disorders. The LEED Platinum development offers 98 units and on-site services to help stabilize lives. The project was achieved within the normal constraints of a tight budget and regulatory overlays at a cost of $31.7M.

The design moves beyond the ‘architecture of survival’. Residents are welcomed home into a tree canopied courtyard through a gate and trellis that unobtrusively disguises needed security. Once in the courtyard, on-site social services are to the left, and ahead is a generous stair that leads to activity spaces on the second floor that include a yoga room, activity spaces, and laundry. On the top floor, a vegetable garden offers another alternative activity to promote healing and care. Life safety egress, conventionally achieved with only hidden exit stairs, is instead achieved by substituting some stairs with cost-equivalent bridges. The bridges also contribute to the highly visible circulation path designed to encourage informal exercise, social interaction, and contribute to passive security. The surrounding studio apartments are modest, but feature ample daylight, small kitchens, and private bathrooms.

Rethinking the role of open space was fundamental to raising the bar to promote health, well-being, and sustainability. The building’s massing captures summer breezes and minimizes west facing glass, while framing the multi-level garden that anchors daily life. Fourteen trees were planted on site and added to the sidewalk in spite of City pushback – just one example of regulatory impediments to building better. The biophilic setting improves resident well-being and goes further to contribute a rarely seen green space on Skid Row.

Client: Skid Row Housing Trust
Contractor: Morley Builders
Architects: KoningEizenberg Architecture
Structural Engineers: Labib + Funk Associates
MEP: Khalifeh and Associates Inc.
Electrical Engineers: OMB Electrical Engineers Inc.
Civil Engineers: Barbara Hall PE
Lighting: Oculus Light Studio
Sustainability: VCA Green
Landscape & Irrigation: Orange Street Studio
Solar PV: CalSolar

Tour Led By:

Brian Lane, FAIA, LEED AP – KoningEizbenberg Architecture
Brian Lane, FAIA, LEED AP has overseen many of the KoningEizenberg’s award-winning community buildings, housing, mixed use, and hospitality projects. He builds neighborhoods, drawing on experience that spans a range of project types for governmental, commercial, non-profit and private clients. His skills converged in the design of many award winning projects, including the 28th Street Apartments, which received a 2015 National AIA Honor Award. His visualization and graphics skills, combined with his planning knowledge, have enabled numerous cities and agencies to evaluate planning and urban design strategies. Recently, he has contributed to the dialogue on emerging ordinances that will aid housing production in Los Angeles and is frequently called upon to share his expertise in community forums and public programs. Under his leadership, Koning Eizenberg has earned over 200 design and sustainability awards, and was honored as AIA California’s Firm of the Year in 2009. In 2021, Brian was elevated to the College of Fellows of the American Institute of Architects for design work that propels social benefit and accelerates affordable housing production, while raising the benchmark for neighborhood buildings.

Learning Objectives:
+ Participants will learn about the requirements and organization of permanent supportive housing programmatic components.
+ Participants will gain insight into the funding framework for affordable housing in the City of Los Angeles and measure HHH funding.
+ Participants will learn about planning entitlement, permitting and inspection requirements including the City of LA’s CASp and third-party Neutral Accessibility Consultant inspection.
+ Participants will learn strategies to maximize design opportunities with minimal means.
+ Participants will gain insight into building components used to achieve LEED Platinum sustainability certification.
+ Participants will learn how open circulation and outdoor space can be used as a tool to offer security and encourage social interaction between residents and how open space is a fundamental tool to raising the bar for health, well-being and sustainability.