HEATING , VENTILATION & INSULATION
RO54
Arshia Architects
Arshia Architects proudly introduces RO54 , perched on a hilltop in the Bel Air neighbourhood of Los Angeles , overlooking the Pacific Ocean and the Los Angeles basin . The project gently lands a dynamic building on top of a buried podium that replicates the natural topography that existed prior to the area being subdivided for development . This hollow post-war neighbourhood has been transforming gradually , overtaken by recent developments that rely on size , rather than spatial quality . The concept set out to reduce the massing of a rather large project in order for it to lodge within the neighbourhood proportionally . It proposes an alternative model within the confines of stringent regulations .
This project engages an exercise in spatial relationships to accelerate the programs of the house . It utilizes the split-level design to follow the topography of the hill , and to connect the floor half-story plates . The plates form adjacencies , both visual and functional , thus allowing twice the utility of an otherwise compartmentalized organization .
The project ’ s aesthetic was directed by streamline automotive design which , among others , proposed concealed performance for every technology in the house . The interior palette was based on a utilitarian approach to materials , in contrast to the overall ambient approach of the design where space overcame necessity . This balance of power proceeded in the backdrop of environmental sensitivity and clinical dearth .
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