Westlake, Los Angeles, CA
Schematic Design & Research | 2003
Design Research: Privacy in Dense Low-Income Housing

Windows are wonderful. They connect us to nature: to the sun, the breeze, the life beyond our walls. They make spaces come alive with light and color, and make them feel larger than they really are. Yet have you ever noticed how many windows in multi-family housing developments are permanently obscured with tin foil or blinds?

Westlake Court is a conceptual medium-density multi-family housing development which was developed as part of an exploration of how to balance needs for a sense of community with needs for adequate privacy/individuality in low-income multi-family housing.

There is often a lack of privacy in low-income multi-family housing. The proximity to neighboring units, the abundance of windows opening onto access corridors, and the frequency of passersby makes it difficult to obtain privacy.

In order to provide connection to nature without compromising privacy, the housing units in Westlake Court were designed to eliminate the need for access corridors, with windows facing private courtyards/balconies, light wells, and places where neighbors and passersby could not see in. While on the one hand, the courtyard configuration affords a pleasant communal gathering space, the unit design and window arrangement ensures that individual privacy would not be breached.