MAD Architects Reveals First Residential Project in US

8600 Wilshire
8600 Wilshire
Image © Mad Architects

MAD Architects reveals 8600 Wilshire, a residential project located in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles. 8600 Wilshire is MAD’s first US project and demonstrates founder Ma Yansong’s core design philosophy: to coalesce nature and community into a living environment among high-density cities. Bringing the nature found on the adjacent foothills of Los Angeles into the city of Beverly Hills, 8600 Wilshire mimics a small sinuous white hill boasting an 18-unit residential village atop commercial space. Clustered white glass villas and trees ascend upward to contour the Beverly Hills skyline and provide a distinctive streetscape on Wilshire Boulevard. The “hillside village” offers a variety of housing types for city residents, including three townhouses, five villas, two studios and eight condominiums.

8600 Wilshire
Image © Mad Architects

The massing of the village cultivates community with the added benefit of individual balcony-patios to maintain independence and privacy. Villa residents experience a balance between public and private as the incandescent villas appear opaque from the street, yet reveal a transparent façade facing the private garden, townhouse and condominium units. The village is wrapped in a water-efficient “living wall” of native, drought-tolerant succulents and vines. Undulating around perforated windows on the façade, this vertical garden extends interior space to the exterior balconies and provides a natural green-screen for condominium residents.

8600 Wilshire
Image © Mad Architects

Along Wilshire Boulevard, the living wall lifts off the ground to reveal glass storefronts at ground level. The resulting effect is a floating plinth that resembles local privacy hedges and conceals an elevated courtyard. Hidden away from the street is an elevated courtyard accented by a canopy of trees and native plantings. At the center of this secret garden is a water feature flowing gently to a secondary reflecting pool in the lobby below. As residents leave the everyday bustle of the city, they find solitude at 8600 Wilshire in a garden valley—at home in nature.  8600 Wilshire is expected to break ground this October. Source by Mad Architects.

8600 Wilshire
Image © Mad Architects

Location: Los Angeles, USA
Architects: Mad architects
Directors: Ma Yansong, Dang Qun, Yosuke Hayano
Associate Partner: LU Junliang(Dixon)
Project Team: LI Guangchong, Flora Lee, Cesar D Pena Del Rey, Jeffrey Miner, Joanna Tan, Chris Hung-Yu Chen
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: Breen Engineering Inc.
Environmental Engineer: Kimley-Horn and Associates, Inc.
Site Area: 25,900 sq ft
Building Area: 48,000 sq ft
Building Height: 60 ft
Award: 45th Annual Los Angeles Architectural Awards
Year: 2013-2016
Images: Courtesy of Mad Architects

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