PROJECT INFO
Scope: New Single-Family Residence
Location: City of Los Angeles
Address: 1254 Roberto lane
Size: 6,700 sf
Status: Built
PROJECT description:
The design intention was to mitigate the apparent massing of a sizable program while responding sensitively to the context of a transforming post-war neighborhood. In contrast to the prevailing model of volumetric expansion, RO54 offers an alternative—one that operates within regulatory constraints while pursuing architectural rigor and spatial quality.
Formally, the project is informed by the language of streamline automotive design. The building envelope adopts a monocoque-inspired shell that seamlessly wraps the split-level configuration, contributing to a coherent and aerodynamically sculpted mass. This strategy, combined with recessed volumes that follow the site’s natural contours, reduces the project’s visual impact and situates it respectfully within its landscape. The surrounding canopy and landscape elements are designed not only for privacy but also to reinforce the site's ecological character.
Sustainability is embedded as both infrastructure and ethos. RO54 integrates a range of high-performance systems, including photovoltaic panels with on-site energy storage, low-flow plumbing fixtures, high-efficiency glazing and envelope design, and a HERS-rated mechanical system. Collectively, these features meet or exceed California’s rigorous energy and green building codes.
RO54 proposes a spatial and environmental model that resists excess and instead emphasizes coherence, performance, and contextual responsiveness—advancing an architectural discourse centered on restraint and integration.
RO54
“Situated at a prominent hilltop in Bel-Air, RO54 explores spatial configuration and environmental integration through a refined split-level strategy. By elevating the main design datum by one story, the project capitalizes on expansive views toward the Pacific Ocean. In lieu of a conventional stacked-floor arrangement, a system of interlocking plates generates a gentle vertical progression, allowing for continuous visual and spatial relationships across levels.”
“A central void anchors the composition, enabling light penetration and visual continuity from the rooftop to the base of the structure. Half-level bridging stairs connect the split floors, minimizing the perceptual effort of vertical circulation and enhancing the experiential fluidity of the interior. Beneath, the basement is fully integrated into the landscape as a vegetated plinth, its courtyard carved from the hillside to admit daylight and provide privacy to the lower-level bedrooms. This courtyard doubles as the site’s primary rainwater filtration system.”
