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APRIL 2010
DESIGN PASADENA 2010 OUTDOOR ROOMS
A FRESH-AIR GUIDE TO RELAXING, COOKING AND ENTERTAINING YOUR GUESTS IN STYLE
DESIGN PASADENA 2010
A Pleasure Palace ALL THE WORLD’S A STAGE FOR THE PASADENA HOMEOWNERS WHO BUILT THE ULTIMATE OUTDOOR ROOM BESIDE A POOL HIGH UP IN THE SAN RAFAEL HILLS. BY B.J. LORENZO | PHOTOS BY STEVE NUETZEL
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ARROYO ~ APRIL 2010 ~ 13
DESIGN PASADENA 2010
A Pleasure Palace ALL THE WORLD’S A STAGE FOR THE PASADENA HOMEOWNERS WHO BUILT THE ULTIMATE OUTDOOR ROOM BESIDE A POOL HIGH UP IN THE SAN RAFAEL HILLS. BY B.J. LORENZO | PHOTOS BY STEVE NUETZEL
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DESIGN PASADENA 2010
Views of and from the pavilion
IS IT A POOL HOUSE? A PARTY HOUSE? A GUEST HOUSE? IT MIGHT BE ANY OF THE ABOVE, ALTHOUGH IT HAPPENS TO BE NONE OF THEM. IT’S CALLED A PAVILION—A SUPERBLY SCULPTURAL SPACE THAT RESTS ON THE CREST OF A RIDGE IN PASADENA. IT’S ALSO THE NEWEST INTERPRETATION OF THAT LIVING SPACE DU JOUR, THE OUTDOOR ROOM. BUT INSTEAD OF BEING DESIGNATED FOR A SINGLE PURPOSE, AS SO MANY ARE—WE’VE SEEN OUR SHARE OF OUTDOOR KITCHENS, LIVING ROOMS AND THEATERS—IT HAS A VERSATILITY THAT MAKES IT SUITABLE FOR ANY PLEASURABLE PURPOSE ONE MIGHT CONTEMPLATE. 14 ~ APRIL 2010 ~ ARROYO
You play cello? This would be the perfect venue for a string quartet to entertain a few dozen guests. You do 200 laps each day? The infinity pool and spa are just off to the left, and this is where you’d head post-swim for a shower, coffee and a change of dress. Your toddlers like to camp out? You could easily pitch little tents inside to avoid coyotes and creepy crawlers. You host fundraisers and big family shindigs? This is ideal for such a group sport. One dictionary describes this structure succinctly: “Pavilion refers to a freestanding structure sited a short distance from a main residence, whose architecture makes it an object of pleasure.” The dictionary goes on to say that a pavilion is usually intended for nothing but relaxation and pleasure. And that’s what owners Linda and Rick McKnight envisioned when they asked Pasadena architect Stephen Hans Nuetzel to design a little something for a particular spot near the home they’d just purchased on a crest in the San Rafael Hills. “We never planned on living in this area,” says Linda, a Pasadena native and former Rose Bowl Queen. “We’d sold our Hancock Park home and were looking for another one in that same area. Then we saw this property, and we couldn’t resist.” It was the view that drew them in, she says. “We fell in love with it.” —CONTINUED ON PAGE 16
“HE DESIGNED A PAVILION AS DRAMATIC AS THE VIEW—SO CLEVERLY DONE, AND IN SUCH GREAT DETAIL, WITH SO MANY DIFFERENT ANGLES IN PLAY. THE OPEN-AIR FEELING WITH ALL THE GLASS DRAWN AWAY IS REALLY EXOTIC, LIKE SOMETHING YOU’D FIND IN BALI.” ARROYO ~ APRIL 2010 ~ 15
DESIGN PASADENA 2010
—CONTINUED FROM PAGE 14
It’s easy to see why. Their home, on four acres, is what Realtors would breathlessly call “a spectacular view house,” and for once they’d be understating the case. Of course, Pasadena (and much of SoCal) is loaded with view homes perched on mountaintops, slung out over canyons, hinged onto cliffs above the Pacific and so on. But the vista from this place is unlike most others because it is almost dauntingly panoramic. It’s 360 degrees of unobstructed landscape, taking in the Palos Verdes Peninsula, Catalina, Mt. Baldy, Mt. San Gorgonio, the downtown tower cluster and all the smaller, closer landmarks like JPL, the Rose Bowl and much more. It’s the sort of site a medieval overlord might have chosen to keep a close eye on his serfs and turf, yet is just aloft enough to safeguard his superiority. That said, the existing single-story house didn’t live up to the view when the McKnights bought it. And the property had no pool or spa, both of which the couple wanted. The former owner’s old greenhouse sat on a space they felt could be put to much better use. So they called on Nuetzel to update, upgrade and reconfigure the main house, tear down the greenhouse and instead install a pool, spa and outdoor room they could use for après-swim, entertaining or just hanging out with friends and family—in other words, a pavilion. Nuetzel, obviously inspired by the site and the opportunity to create a mini–pleasure palace, says he didn’t have to wonder about where to build the pool and pavilion complex. “Most of the McKnight acreage is hillside and very steep,” he says. “The only buildable part is the flat land at the top,” which is aligned with the main house. And the inspiration for the pavilion, which looks so contemporary, actually sprang from the design of that original house, he adds. The existing house was a post-and-beam structure built in 1959. This type of building, prevalent in Southern California construction after World War II, utilized vertical wood posts to support large horizontal wood beams, which in turn supported the roof. These homes usually had open-space interiors rather than a series of small rooms and featured glass walls to bring the outdoors in; roof beams were left exposed as an ornamental feature. Nuetzel happens to know a thing or two about upgrading mid-century post-and-beam homes, not least because he lives in one just a few minutes down the road from the McKnights. His was designed by Buff, Straub and Hensman, Pasadena’s masters of the post-and-beam genre. 16 ~ APRIL 2010 ~ ARROYO
Nuetzel, who tends to talk in archi-speak, says he and the McKnights decided “to inform the new pavilion with an updated, upgraded interpretation of the post-and-beam aesthetic. I developed a vocabulary of structural members: L-shaped concrete block pilasters, laminated wood beams and 12-inchdiameter concrete ‘posts’ that we used to carry out the design. The pavilion is, therefore, a modern interpretation of a mid-century post-and-beam structure.” Now that he mentions it, that seems obvious. But visiting pleasure-seekers probably won’t care. What they’ll love is the soaring butterfly roof, with its upraised wings (which carry solar panels that heat the pool). And the handsome beamed 12-foot-high ceiling that shelters the simple open space of about 700 square feet, with a concrete floor and view that doesn’t stop. Rick McKnight, an attorney and partner-in-charge at Jones Day in Los Angeles, says Nuetzel accomplished the near impossible: “He designed a pavilion as dramatic as the view—so cleverly done, and in such great detail, with so many different angles in play. The open-air feeling with all the glass drawn away is really exotic, like something you’d find in Bali.” When the glass walls are closed, Nuetzel’s design can also be an indoor space. There’s a kitchen area along one wall that includes a dishwasher and refrigerator, which are hidden behind cabinetry, as well as a stainless-steel sink embedded in the colorful polished-concrete countertop. The spacious storage room and luxurious bath area—also with concrete floors, walls and polishedconcrete countertops—includes enough space for towels, robes and toiletries to satisfy a boatload of party-goers and swimmers. Cooking facilities are just a few steps away: A hand-carved 18th-century Rajasthani counter from India forms the framework for a large outdoor food preparation area with a barbecue. It stands between the pavilion and the house, accessed by a path of Indian mahogany pavers designed and built by Nuetzel. The pavilion has no built-in heating or cooling, and the McKnights keep what Nuetzel calls “an armada of portable heaters on site” for warmth when necessary. So far, the McKnights have used the pavilion for all manner of daily doings and larger gatherings. “It’s a great place for Christmas and Thanksgiving dinners,” says Rick, who with his wife hosted a wedding reception there for their daughter, as well as a big birthday bash for himself. “We actually have plenty of space in our house to entertain,” says Linda, “but somehow we always use the pavilion because it’s just so perfect.” AM
DESIGN PASADENA 2010
Sleek New Schools Rise on a Storied Hotel Site TWO GENERATIONS OF PASADENA ARCHITECTS “COLLABORATE” ON THE NEW KENNEDY COMMUNITY SCHOOLS, ON THE SITE OF THE FAMED AMBASSADOR HOTEL. BY MORRIS NEWMAN
ABOVE: Southwest façade
BY MORRIS NEWMAN
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FOR A NEW LAUSD COMPLEX—PRIMARY, MIDDLE AND HIGH SCHOOLS DESIGNED BY PASADENA’S GONZALEZ GOODALE ARCHITECTS TO SERVE MORE THAN 4,000 STUDENTS; THE 44-CLASSROOM PRIMARY SCHOOL HAS BEEN OPEN SINCE LAST FALL, AND THE TWO UPPER-GRADE SCHOOLS, WITH 130 MORE CLASSROOMS, ARE STILL UNDER CONSTRUCTION, SCHEDULED TO BE COMPLETED THIS SUMMER.
PHOTOS: Tim Street-Porter
LOS ANGELES RESIDENTS MIGHT BE FORGIVEN FOR CONTINUING TO REFER TO THE
The Ambassador Hotel TWO GENERATIONS OF PASADENA ARCHITECTS “COLLABORATE” ON COMMUNITY SCHOOLS AS “THE AMBASSADOR SITE,” EVEN ROBERT F. KENNEDY THE NEW CENTRAL LOS ANGELES LEARNING CENTER THOUGH NO. 1 ON THE THE AMBASSADOR HOTEL AND ITS MANY OUTBUILDINGS WERE DEMOLISHED FOUR YEARS AGO OVER PRESERVATIONISTS’ PROTESTS. THE GOAL WAS TO MAKE WAY SITE OF THE FORMER AMBASSADOR HOTEL.
Nothing remains of the hotel designed by Caltech and Occidental College architect Myron Hunt, with the exception of the Morocco-themed interior of the Cocoanut Grove nightclub, which has become the high school auditorium. But if the Ambassador is technically gone, the old building continues to “haunt” the campus, or at least inform it. Motorists on Wilshire Boulevard may not even realize the hotel no longer exists. The original front lawn, stretching back from Wilshire 400 feet, remains intact. And the hotel’s façade—at least its shape—has also survived: The new design of the four-story high school replicates the long horizontal lines of the hotel’s original profile.
FROM TOP: Northwest corner; skylit passageway; east courtyard
“The way the original hotel stood in relation to the boulevard was very powerful and romantic,” says David Goodale, design principal of Gonzalez Goodale Architects. Adding to the effect was the site’s slope, which lifted the hotel’s ground floor 30 feet above street level. “We did everything we could to retain some of the same sense of mass and scale that had been there,” he adds. The Ambassador Hotel’s transformation into multiple school campuses can be seen as a dialog between two generations of Pasadena architects: Hunt, a classicist and one of the most respected designers of his era, designed the Pasadena —CONTINUED ON PAGE 40 ARROYO ~ APRIL 2010 ~ 23
DESIGN PASADENA 2010
Sleek New Schools Rise on a Storied Hotel Site TWO GENERATIONS OF PASADENA ARCHITECTS “COLLABORATE” ON THE NEW KENNEDY COMMUNITY SCHOOLS, ON THE SITE OF THE FAMED AMBASSADOR HOTEL. BY MORRIS NEWMAN
ABOVE: Southwest façade
BY MORRIS NEWMAN
22 ~ APRIL 2010 ~ ARROYO
FOR A NEW LAUSD COMPLEX—PRIMARY, MIDDLE AND HIGH SCHOOLS DESIGNED BY PASADENA’S GONZALEZ GOODALE ARCHITECTS TO SERVE MORE THAN 4,000 STUDENTS; THE 44-CLASSROOM PRIMARY SCHOOL HAS BEEN OPEN SINCE LAST FALL, AND THE TWO UPPER-GRADE SCHOOLS, WITH 130 MORE CLASSROOMS, ARE STILL UNDER CONSTRUCTION, SCHEDULED TO BE COMPLETED THIS SUMMER.
PHOTOS: Tim Street-Porter
LOS ANGELES RESIDENTS MIGHT BE FORGIVEN FOR CONTINUING TO REFER TO THE
The Ambassador Hotel TWO GENERATIONS OF PASADENA ARCHITECTS “COLLABORATE” ON COMMUNITY SCHOOLS AS “THE AMBASSADOR SITE,” EVEN ROBERT F. KENNEDY THE NEW CENTRAL LOS ANGELES LEARNING CENTER THOUGH NO. 1 ON THE THE AMBASSADOR HOTEL AND ITS MANY OUTBUILDINGS WERE DEMOLISHED FOUR YEARS AGO OVER PRESERVATIONISTS’ PROTESTS. THE GOAL WAS TO MAKE WAY SITE OF THE FORMER AMBASSADOR HOTEL.
Nothing remains of the hotel designed by Caltech and Occidental College architect Myron Hunt, with the exception of the Morocco-themed interior of the Cocoanut Grove nightclub, which has become the high school auditorium. But if the Ambassador is technically gone, the old building continues to “haunt” the campus, or at least inform it. Motorists on Wilshire Boulevard may not even realize the hotel no longer exists. The original front lawn, stretching back from Wilshire 400 feet, remains intact. And the hotel’s façade—at least its shape—has also survived: The new design of the four-story high school replicates the long horizontal lines of the hotel’s original profile.
FROM TOP: Northwest corner; skylit passageway; east courtyard
“The way the original hotel stood in relation to the boulevard was very powerful and romantic,” says David Goodale, design principal of Gonzalez Goodale Architects. Adding to the effect was the site’s slope, which lifted the hotel’s ground floor 30 feet above street level. “We did everything we could to retain some of the same sense of mass and scale that had been there,” he adds. The Ambassador Hotel’s transformation into multiple school campuses can be seen as a dialog between two generations of Pasadena architects: Hunt, a classicist and one of the most respected designers of his era, designed the Pasadena —CONTINUED ON PAGE 40 ARROYO ~ APRIL 2010 ~ 23
DESIGN PASADENA 2010
—CONTINUED FROM PAGE 23
Public Library and was Occidental’s principal architect until 1940. Gonzalez Goodale, for its part, is a prolific designer of schools, housing and public buildings, all in a Modernist mode. If the high school echoes the shape of the original hotel, the resemblance stops there. Instead of the Ambassador’s pinkish stucco and red roof tiles, the new buildings display industrial materials like curtain glass walls and zinc applied in horizontal bands. Another change was terracing the sloping site, giving each school its own level and providing a “natural” separation between adjoining schools. This multi-level strategy allowed the architects to add visually exciting elements throughout the campus in the form of outdoor stairs, ramps and bridges. And departing from standard school design, where windows are flush with the surrounding walls, the windows at the Kennedy Community Schools are often deeply recessed into the external walls, to keep direct sunlight from heating up classrooms. From an aesthetic standpoint, the deep window frames also make the walls appear thick and massive while cutting stark, dramatic shadows in the façades. It is not difficult to understand preservationists’ sentiments about the Ambassador, both as an architectural and cultural landmark. With the exception of the former Bullocks Wilshire Department Store, the Ambassador was arguably the most distinctive structure on Wilshire during much of its reign 40 ~ APRIL 2010 ~ ARROYO
from 1921 to the century’s end, especially during its early years, when the boulevard was a magnet for Hollywood and high society. Talent agents “discovered” Carole Lombard and Joan Crawford at the Cocoanut Grove, and Bing Crosby made his singing debut there. One of L.A.’s most prominent African-American architects, Paul Williams, created a coffee shop with arching ceilings and lunette windows for the Ambassador, which the current architects have rebirthed as a cafeteria. The Ambassador later became the notorious site of the 1968 assassination of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, on the night of his victory in the California Democratic presidential primary. If the site has lost the patina of old Hollywood, new school buildings, plus a park that will be open to the public after school hours, are vital new uses for the old hotel site. Beyond their architecture, the school campuses are most impressive for their abundant outdoor spaces. The 24-acre size of the three-school campus, almost unheard of in L.A.’s densely built-up core, allows for vast, sunfilled playgrounds. And wherever possible, the architects have emphasized views, as a way of integrating the school into “the fabric of the city,” Goodale says. One of the best vantage points is the uppermost story of the high school, looking north toward Hollywood. At a distance, the neighborhood looks almost like a Mediterranean village of stucco-and-tile buildings. Says Goodale: “The view gives you an almost dizzying panoramic connection with the whole city.” AM
PHOTO: Magnus Stark; RENDERING: Gonzalez Goodale Architects
South elevation, rendering and completion