Arch Tour Fest: Millennium Santa Monica

TOUR BONUS:

Join us for a special book signing afterparty at 5 pm featuring Frances Anderton, AIA|LA Board Member and author of Common Ground: Multifamily Housing in Los Angeles.

Image Credit: Art Gray

Arch Tour Fest: Millennium Santa Monica

Additional information regarding the tour and check-in process will be emailed directly to registrants 24 hours before the event.

Michael W. Folonis Architects has transformed the site of an abandoned mobile home park in Santa Monica, CA, into Millennium Santa Monica, a community-oriented, five-story, 362-unit mixed-use LEED-Platinum project including affordable housing.

An easy solution for such a massive site would be a monolithic box. But Michael Folonis, FAIA, sought to create a complex that is open, accessible, and welcoming to the neighborhood while enhancing the tenant experience with natural light and ventilation in every unit.

The resulting configuration features four linear interlocking elements with façade indentations that provide relief along the street front while allowing for ample windows and terraces for the units. Shifting floor plates create a variety of outdoor spaces of all scales above grade, as well as establish dynamic visual connections. Walkways harbor intimate spaces that engender a sense of community among tenants. Amenities include an outdoor play area for children, a clubhouse, an indoor/outdoor gym, and a pool.

The design integrates passive solar principles and incorporates sustainable strategies, garnering LEED Platinum certification. Fenestration responds to its solar orientation, and perforated metal screens help to mitigate heat gain. Energy generated by rooftop photovoltaic panels illuminates walkways and outdoor public spaces. Commercial spaces utilize daylight-harvesting sensors to reduce electricity for lighting.

Building Credits:

Designed by Michael W. Folonis Architects
Executive Architect: Cuningham Group Architects
Interior Designer: Ariel Fox Design
Landscape Architect: AHBE | MIG Architects
Lighting Designer: The Ruzika Company
Environmental Graphic Designer: Beck & Graboski Design Office
General Contractor: DMC Raven Construction Company
Electrical/Lighting Engineer: Candela Engineering
Structural Engineer: VCA Structural
MEP Engineer: TAD Consulting
Civil Engineer: KPFF Consulting Engineers
Acoustical Engineer: 45dB Noise Control Consultants

Tour Led By:

Michael W. Folonis, FAIA, Principal, Michael W. Folonis Architects

Michael W. Folonis, FAIA, founded his Santa Monica-based firm in 1983. The full-service architecture firm is nationally recognized for carrying on the rich legacy of Modernist exploration within the Southern California region. The firm’s range of experience includes mixed-use, multi-family residential, medical, commercial, single-family residential, and the restoration of historically significant Modernist buildings. Folonis holds a master’s degree from UCLA, and a bachelor of architecture degree from the Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc). He is on the Board of Directors of the AIA/Los Angeles and of the Santa Monica Conservancy. Folonis was chairperson of the Architectural Review Board in the City of Santa Monica from 2004 to 2011. Folonis teaches at SCI-Arc, and previously taught at California State Polytechnic University in Pomona, CA, for 20 years.

Learning Objectives:

1. Tour-goers will experience how architecture creates community in a high-density multi-tenant project.
2. Participants will understand the advantages of high-level sustainable design.
3. Participants will experience how a large building can be designed to blend into the neighborhood context.
4. Participants will experience how architecture leads to greater community spirit.