A Dynamic Landing of a Streamline Automotive Design on a Hilltop of LA 

Arshia Architects proudly introduces RO54, perched on a hilltop in the Bel Air neighborhood 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 neighborhood 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 neighborhood proportionally. It proposes an alternative model within the confines of stringent regulations.

Exterior View, Photo credit: Renee Parkhurst

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.

Design Stepping, Photo credit: Arshia Architects

Section, Photo credit: Arshia Architects

Systems, Photo credit: Arshia Architects

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.

Library, Photo credit: Paul Vu

Living Room, Photo credit: Paul Vu

A courtyard, created by daylighting the lower bedrooms from the buried podium, also acts as the rainwater runoff filtration system for the entire site. The project meets or exceeds stringent California green building and energy conservation standards such as low-flow plumbing systems, drought tolerant planting, rainwater filtration, photovoltaic integration, high efficiency building envelope and glazing, HERS rating of the mechanical system, and more.

Exterior View, Photo credit: Renee Parkhurst

Balcony, Photo credit: Renee Parkhurst

Indoor materials specified were sourced naturally and are compliant with Low VOC standards. The design palette was kept minimal to an all natural selection including mica plaster, hardwood flooring, and natural stone. The project sought out minimal, low-impact, and proven materials, achieving a balance between durability, ease of maintenance, and responsible design.

Kitchen & Staircase, Photo credit: Paul Vu

Elevator, Photo credit: Paul Vu

A Multi-Award-Winning Project

Thus far, the project has won 18 international design awards including:

• A Design Award 2023
• ACDA - Architecture, Construction & Design Awards-2022
• AMP - Architecture Masterprize-2022
• Architect of the Year Awards-2022
• Best Of Year_ Interior Design Magazine-2022
• Built Design Awards-2022
• Credaward-2023
• Global Future Design Awards-2022
• IDA - I Design Awards-2022-Ro54
• LABC - Los Angeles Architectural Awards-2022
• LIT - Lighting Design Awards-2022
• LIV Hospitality Design Awards
• London International Creative Competition-2022
• LOOP Design Awards-2022
• Outstanding Property Award London-2022
• SIT-Interior Design of The Year-Professional
• Titan Property Awards-2022
• UDAD-Urban Design & Architecture Design Awards-2022

About Arshia Architects

Founded in 2006, Arshia Architects is a Los Angeles-based architecture and design practice that emerged from the tectonic breach of the aesthetic experience and the act of building - purposely fusing this gap with novel substance.

Arshia Architects' studio is dedicated to the exploration of space and the built environment. They are committed to new ways of thinking in space that provide unique solutions to the complex challenges and parameters that affect architecture. They aim to collaborate with disparate disciplines, entering a dialogue with the environment, believing that such partnerships create emergent qualities in architecture.

The practice has been recognized with citations and awards from the American Institute of Architects, the Los Angeles Architecture Award, the International Interior Design Association, and numerous other national and international organizations. Their body of work has been published internationally, and the studio was selected by the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) as one of the participants in the first retrospective exhibition on Contemporary Architecture in Southern California – focused on the top 35 radical practices to emerge within the past twenty-five years.