Los Angeles, California, USA
Βased on using custom prefabricated steel modules, Slauson Connect Recreation Center, designed by Paul Murdoch Architects and commissioned by the Bureau of Engineering for the City of Los Angeles, is a net zero energy landmark building to serve as an example of the revitalization of the Slauson Corridor, once an urban area vibrant with industrial activity and served by a rail line.
The project will serve as a community oasis that offers a place of history, beauty, health, safety, and social activity for residents, while being more broadly connected to the several cities along Metro’s Bicycle Path Network on Slauson Avenue, as part of the Rail to River Active Transportation Corridor.
The project site is located within a former rail right-of-way along Slauson Avenue in South Los Angeles.
The urban infill, brownfield site, surrounded by industrial, commercial, and residential uses, is approximately 81’ wide by 1,250 feet long, totaling 2.29 acres. 31’ of the site depth is occupied by LA Metro’s Bicycle Path Network.
The Slauson Connect Site is comprised of the proposed recreation center’s parking area for 22 cars and a 2-acre park.
The passive open space is programmed with a playground, discovery garden, flexible lawn area, multipurpose plaza, picnic area with shade, and self-cleaning public restrooms.
A pedestrian trail will connect the spaces and provide for interpretative signage.
The planting palette consists of native and drought-tolerant vegetation.
The Slauson Connect Recreation Center is envisioned as a 3-story, 16,000-square-foot (10,000 square-foot enclosed space) youth development hub‚ with a mix of uses.
The building will house a childcare facility on the ground floor, a media lab, and an after-school classroom on the second floor, and on the third floor, an extensive roof garden with drought tolerant and native planting, terraces with trellis shading, outdoor activity space, and a multipurpose classroom shaded by a large metal fabric facade screen with building signage that will be illuminated at night.
A two-story high exterior urban porch acts as the main entrance to the building.
Exterior stairs, with seating for street performances/movie nights, provide a place of gathering next to the visible access to the second floor of classrooms and third-floor garden.
The main lobby, with access to the Childcare Center and the elevator, is also accessed off this space.
The linear organization of the building is a direct result of the long narrow proportions of the site.
The parking area, accessed off Normandie Ave, will feature a shading canopy with solar photovoltaic arrays generating enough solar power to offset the building demand.
The building will meet Net Zero Energy standards and a portion will use prefabricated modular construction to reduce the construction cost and schedule duration.
The building design is for the classrooms, and site-built construction for the multipurpose classroom volume.
Painted plaster will typically be white and feature bronze-colored metal mesh, some color accents, artwork, and signage to express a vibrant community center in the park.
Open space at roof decks on the stacked modules promotes a strong indoor-outdoor relationship for the park building.
Project: Slauson Connect Recreation Center
Architects: Paul Murdoch Architects
Client: City of Los Angeles, Bureau of Engineering
Photographers: Paul Murdoch Architects
