The Rose Apartments is a new LEED Gold four-story building that comprises 35 units of mixed-use 100% affordable apartments for transitional aged youths. These young adults are often left homeless when they turn 18 and have to leave youth facilities.
Project’s Formal Name: The Rose Apartments
Location of Project: 720 Rose Ave, Venice, CA 90291
Client/Owner: Venice Community Housing Corporation
Total Square Footage: 20,900 SF
Lot Size: 13,150 (0.31 acres) 35 units = 113 units/acre
Total Cost: $12,400,000
Completed: 2021
Architects: Brooks + Scarpa
3929 W. 139th Street
Hawthorne, CA 90250
Project Team: Brooks + Scarpa
Lawrence Scarpa, FAIA , Lead Designers
Angela Brooks, FAIA, Principal-in-Charge, Flavia Christi, George Faber, AIA, David Garcia, Carlos Garcia, AIA -Project Architect, Tod Funkhauser, Jeffrey Huber, FAIA, Dionicio Ichillumpa, Iliya Muzychuk, Micaela Danko, Eric Mosher, Eleftheria Stavridi, Fui Srivkorn, Yimin Wu, Juan Villareal, Project Design Team
Landscape: Brooks + Scarpa with Tina Chee
Engineering: Labib Funk – Structural and Civil Engineering
Breen Engineering – Electrical, Mechanical and Plumbing
Homage Design (Shellie Collier) – LEED Consultant
Southern California Geotechnical –Geotechnical Engineering
Wayfinding: Brooks + Scarpa
Contractor: Walton Construction
Photography: Jeff Durkin and Brooks + Scarpa
However, Rose Apartments provides a home for them. Located in Venice, the building is designed with an elevated courtyard above ground level commercial space that promotes pedestrian-oriented neighborhoods and creates usable space in the center of the project.
Unlike traditional neighborhood defensive apartment buildings with solid walls and fences, Rose Apartments is designed with a raised central court that de-emphasizes private space and celebrates social space. The 35 low-income apartments are oriented to spatially apart social spaces that are visually connected to each other and the street below. This design provides increased security, privacy, and openness while connecting to the greater community outside the building walls.
Rose Apartments contributes to much-needed affordable housing stock in Los Angeles and provides housing to poor and disadvantaged populations in an affluent area of town. The building’s exterior is made of commonly used exterior cement plaster, but the walls are scalloped to give depth, relief, and texture. The surface of the walls also includes sparkle grain that shimmers in the sunlight and bright lighting conditions.
