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Formed in 2003, Holtz Architecture is a multidisciplinary Architecture and Design collaborative. Our core belief is that the Modern paradigm is the most effective means of creating and promoting positive relationships between public and private, individual and culture, and singular and common. Questioning conventional scenarios and processes form the basis of our design philosophy. Yet tradition is not abandoned: it is distilled for its relevant ideas, compositions, and solutions. Combined with our ongoing interest and technology, sustainability, and aesthetic innovation, we seek to create design that speaks to and of the aspirations of our clients.
Framework
We are committed to Modernism, not as style, but as a strategy for solving problems and as a vehicle for reconciling technology with humanistic values.
We believe the Arts, including Architecture, is the mechanism by which the individual communicates with the culture, and how the culture demonstrates its collective aspirations.
The history of Architecture demonstrates the universality of the language of building. This history is a rich source of inspiration which continues to inform our work.
As professionals, we are obligated to give back to our community at every level, in tangible ways, as well as by communicating the value of taking risks in encouraging innovation and imagination.
We are responsible for creating an Architecture which minimizes waste in construction and use, and does not contribute to the burdens our post-industrial society places on the natural environment.
711 North Broadway
Client: Bridge Residential Advisors
A study for the adaptive reuse of a 4 story ‘70s era office building into a 55 unit condominium complex in Chinatown, including ground floor retail space. The scheme proposes an additional penthouse floor with roof gardens. An existing courtyard is transformed into a quiet oasis off the bustle of Broadway, accessed through a Manhattan style “carriage way”.
Allen Center
Pasadena, California
A proposal for the adaptive reuse of an existing corner mini-mall. The one story mini-mall type litters the urban landscape of Southern California cities; a suburban model out-of place. Here we propose a triage, intensifying and refining the existing condition, reestablishing the solid corner and establishing a residential beachhead in an underused condition.
Chelsea
New York City, New York
A zoning and conceptual study for a mixed use building in the Chelsea District of Manhattan. The site is mid-block, off the Avenue. Rather than emphasize the more typical symmetrical and monumental forms of buildings fronting the main north-south arteries, the tower will take its aesthetic cues from the energetic collage of cooling towers, water tanks and roof structures that make up the roofscape of the street block.
Apple seed College Preparatory Academy
Saugus, California
A site planning and programming exercise for a year round residential Charter High School. This school was conceived to provide a complete College prep education for High School level students, countering the dismal statistics for college attendance among foster children. The curriculum was designed to compete with the best Private Preparatory schools in Los Angeles, and would target lower income students through a Charter School Structure. Residential pods provide living arrangements for small groups of students with live-in foster parents to ensure a full time support system. The campus plan encourages collaboration and socialization, supporting the complete development of students day and night.
East West Bank
Pasadena, California
Client: East West Bank
In association with The Thompson Collaborative
Located in their corporate headquarters, this flagship commercial banking center provides an open and genial banking atmosphere while accommodating strict security requirements. The branch was also designed to provide a gallery environment for showcasing the East West Bank Collection of Modern Chinese art, assembled in cooperation with the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art.
This project was the recipient of a 2008 Calibre Award in the Retail/Showroom category.
Half Price House
Project
After listening to a radio ad for a “Half-off” promotional price on prefab metal buildings, we wanted to investigate the possibilities of adapting such a structure for residential uses. Our idea was to exploit the weather-tight shell and build an open two story structure completely within the prefabricated shell. A large area of the shell is left open as an enclosed two story flexible living space, and the ends of the metal building are translucent and openable to the outside. The aesthetic of the internal, cellular, functional structure, in keeping with warehouse uses more typical of these pre-engineered kits, derives from pallets and other materials handling equipment.
Kunianski House
Manhattan Beach, California
A new single family dwelling for a growing family, the house was designed to fit unobtrusively onto its small lot. From the street its massing is manipulated to deemphasize bulk, yet inside a soaring great room provides a dramatic counterpoint just inside the entry. The house is a study in the composition of space and volume, with careful attention to maintaining privacy while at the same time allowing ample natural light and composed exterior views deep into the living areas on all floors.
Lumination
Studio City, California
In collaboration with Projects Architecture
An existing three story single family home, wedged between the street and the steep northern slope of the Hollywood Hills, is spatially deconstructed to provide a live-work environment for an owner/occupant. The existing house is sliced, stretched and excavated to bring light and spatial interest into the small house while maintaining the limited existing garden area.
Singer House
Pacific Palisades, California
A new 3,800 s.f. house on a typical 50’ x 130’ Los Angeles city lot, organized along an axis and a garden courtyard open to the sky. The house is conceived as a type of “row house” with an emphasis on the front to back orientation. While in this case the center zone is dematerialized from side yard to side yard through the atrium, the Atrium Type could easily be adapted to a denser, zero side yard site plan, proposing an alternative to the increasingly unsustainable freestanding single family urban house model.
Sunset Plaza Apartments
West Covina, California
An existing 170 unit apartment complex, built in 1960, was brought up to date with a new color scheme, and facade and common area improvements. The scheme strengthens the original design intent and proportions, using motifs derived from Southern California mid-century examples.