Palms Block, Los Angeles, CA

The original Palms neighborhood provided modest, dense, affordable housing on existing small lots, but at the expense of the greater urban environment: inadequate open space, abandoned streets dominated by parking, driveways and curb cuts, and internalized dwellings isolated from the public realm. The New Palms will meet 21st century housing needs by creating ever higher densities but without the collateral urban damage. The project provides ample open space in a network of elevated courtyards, shared streets that control the effects of the automobile and dwellings with a strong physical and visual connection to the street.