Studio One Eleven has announced designs for an innovative development combining creative space with traditional courtyard housing. The ARTery, at 5721 Lime Ave in north Long Beach, will join 14 townhomes with communal facilities for artists, makers and other creatives. Each residence has a ground-floor studio workspace, and the development is centered on a one-story communal building and courtyard. The ARTery will be LAB Holding’s first development in Los Angeles County.
The 14 townhomes include one unit designated affordable for very low incomes. This allows the development increased density and reduced parking under Senate Bill 1818. The existing site is an empty lot. The total building area will be just under 20,000 square feet. Construction is expected to start early next year with completion nine months later. The homes cluster in three buildings around the central courtyard and pavilion, which can house exhibits, events, neighborhood meetings and other uses by The ARTery’s residents.
Site plan for The ARTery by landscape architect Superjacent
Each of the townhomes is three stories, with the ground floor devoted to garage, workspace and powder room. The garage can also be used as a studio or workspace. Each unit is approximately 1,172 square feet, with a 225-square-foot garage in addition to a ground floor patio, second and third floor balconies and a rooftop deck. The buildings will be modern in character finished in white plaster with natural wood doors, windows and railings.
The interiors will have wood-finished cabinets and exposed ceilings to bring additional warmth, and complemented with large openings to allow ample natural light. Our goal is to bring nature and warmth in the built environment. The ARTery’s residences employ a version of courtyard housing, a venerated typology in Los Angeles dating to the 1920s, but rendered here in a contemporary style.
Site plan for The ARTery by landscape architect Superjacent
The BEAT: Retail, Parks and Courtyards
The ARTery on Lime Avenue is just one block east of Atlantic Avenue, where LAB Holding is creating a larger, related development with multiple components named The BEAT. LAB Holding has purchased a dozen or so storefronts and will activate the street by adapting these properties with new designs, also by Studio One Eleven. This retail component is The ARTyard. One block north are a series of empty lots also controlled by LAB Holding.
This property will comprise the related ARTlawn development, which will evolve into pocket parks with retail components. The ARTery, ARTyard and ARTlawn all comprise the overall development named the BEAT. The BEAT refers to the live music scene that was once prevalent in the neighborhood. As with its other successful developments, LAB Holding will recruit local entrepreneurs and makers. The Packing House food hall in Anaheim, for example, includes multiple start-ups that graduate to larger spaces. The word LAB in LAB Holding is an acronym for Little American Businesses. Source and images Courtesy of Studio One Eleven.
Site plan for The ARTery by landscape architect Superjacent Site plan for The ARTery by landscape architect Superjacent 
ARTyard by Studio One Eleven 
Image © Studio One Eleven