Leveraging ownership of an under-uitlized surface parking lot for teachers across the street from Glassell Park Elementary School, this project undergrounded the parking and achieved, as neighbors, an Early Education Center and an affordable housing project.

Surrounded by sprawling light industrial uses, the architecture of the EEC necessarily turned inward to a central play courtyard, but responded to the hostile context with color and dynamic, light-scooping architectural profiles. For graffitti protection, the colored walls are protected at their base by screenwalls that will fill in with vine-cover.

​

The playground area represents one of the first LAUSD redirections from all-standardized play equipment to a more varietal landscape and nature-focused play.

​

Classrooms are high-ceilinged and lit from multiple sides, providing a continuous connection to the sun and the weather.