MAD Architects has released the latest photographs of the "Gardenhouse" in Los Angeles that show the project is nearing completion. Dubbed as Gardenhouse, the modern housing will be the first project of MAD built in the US. 

"In our congested urban centers, modern housing has come to prioritize function over consideration for a human’s emotional relationship with the living and natural environment," said MAD in a press release. 

The 4,413-square-metre Gardenhouse deeply follows MAD’s core design philosophy: "to harmoniously interweave nature, humanity and the built environment in our high-density cities."

Located along the iconic Wilshire Boulevard, the new housing creates a natural flora found in the adjacent foothills of Los Angeles, into the city of Beverly Hills.

Wrapped in an outdoor living wall that is one of the largest-to-date in the US, the design rises out of the ground as a small hill, covered in lush plantings of native, drought-tolerant succulents and vines. 

Atop the hill, there is an 18-unit residential "village" that is composed of a cluster of white glass villas and trees that ascend upward. Contouring the Beverly Hills skyline, it provides a distinctive streetscape.

Described as a "hillside village", the new housing offers a variety of different housing typologies – three townhouses, two studios, five villas and eight condominiums – that are arranged to cultivate a private neighborhood feeling in the middle of the city. 

The project features individual balconies and patios extending out over an inner courtyard that allows villa residents to at once, enjoy the nature and independence from neighbors. 

MAD tried to provide a balance between public and private as the housing appears opaque from the street, but reveals a transparent façade facing toward the private garden and other residential units.

"We want to bring the green atmosphere into what would traditionally be considered compact, condo living, by breaking down the scale and massing of the building," said Ma Yansong, Principal of MAD.

"Rather than develop architecture where nature exists around the building, we want to give residents the experience of being in the middle of nature, while they enjoy the conveniences of big city living."

MAD first unveiled conceptual images for the project in 2015.  "Gardenhouse" is expected to be completed in the end of 2018. 

Project facts

Project name: Gardenhouse
Location: Los Angeles, USA
Date: 2013-2018

Typology: Residential, Commercial
Site Area: 25,700 sq.ft.
Building Area: 47,496 sq.ft.
Building Height: 61 ft.

Partners in Charge: Ma Yansong, Dang Qun, Yosuke Hayano
Associate Partners in Charge: Lu Junliang (Dixon), Flora Lee
Design Team: Li Guangchong, Cesar D Pena del Rey, Jeffrey Miner, Joanna Tan, Chris Hung-Yu Chen, Xie Wenshan

Client: Palisades Capital Partners LLC
Executive Architect: Gruen Associates
Landscape Architect: Gruen Associates
Interior Designer: Rottet Studio
Structural Engineer: John Labib & Associates
MEP Engineer: Breen Engineering Inc.
Civil Engineer: Kimley-Horn and Associates, Inc.

All images courtesy of MAD

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