HOME TOUR: C HOUSE, LAB+  

Please join the L.A. Forum for a conversation with architect Andrew Liang of Lab+ Architects and a tour of his newly completed C House located in the Hollywood Hills Oaks neighborhood.  

Location: C House, Los Angeles 90068 (exact location will be sent to ticket holders) 

Space is limited so RSVP HERE today to secure your spot! 

Two tour times are available- 

Group One: 3:30pm-5pm 

Group Two: 5:30pm-7pm

About C House:

Hillside homes are a common, historical, single-family residential typology in Southern California as easily buildable sites are scarce and often expensive, resulting in hillside sites becoming an increasingly risk- worthy challenge for many longing for a slice of the Southern California lifestyle. Hillside construction, however, is complicated: vision and know-how on the part of the project team and patience on the part of the client are necessary virtues. With the ever-evolving and very strict planning, design, engineering and construction requirements of such a project, respecting and learning from the typology’s precedents is prudent and necessary. Done right, hillside homes can offer many lifestyle returns that can equal or even surpass many flat-site homes.

C House is nestled into an upslope lot in the historic Hollywood Hills Oaks Neighborhood of Los Angeles. It utilizes the ‘house as the retaining wall’ planning and engineering approach like many architecturally noteworthy homes dotting the hillsides of Los Angeles. The lower two stories are mostly embraced on 3- sides by the hill, with the 3rd floor completely breaking free and offering day light on all 4-sides of the home. One of the main design challenges with an upslope site is channeling natural light and ventilation into and throughout the home. C House utilizes an interior atrium to accomplish both. Architectural concrete construction with vertical board form finish is used for both its robust structural and aesthetic qualities.

The home’s main elevation is oriented due west and nestled into the site’s natural slope configuration. This natural site orientation perfectly sets up the home to take full advantage of a wide sweeping view of the surrounding hills and canyon, including the iconic ‘Hollywood’ sign. This site advantage also allows the home to enjoy passive cooling during the warmer months caused by the southwest to northeast prevailing wind direction. A cantilevered roof shades a large glass-corner sliding door system from the strong south and southwest sun and is also a defining formal feature of the home’s design. Exterior spaces of the home that facilitate the home’s seamless indoor/outdoor living consist of a second floor dining patio directly adjacent to the kitchen and living room, and separately a treelined patio and gravel path that define the home’s main outdoor space, as well as a private fire pit patio off the Main Bedroom Suite.

The home contains a centrally and locally controllable LV lighting system. Heating and cooling of the home are managed by a dual stage full hydronic, micro-zoned system powered by two heat pumps and an 80-gallon buffer tank. Depending on if cooling or heating is required, cold or hot water is circulated through the micro-zoned primary (first stage) floor radiant system; the second stage, also micro-zoned, fan coil forced air system is on demand through a fully automated controller to provide additional temperature control as needed. The above mentioned interior environment control is managed through a state-of-the- art computerized system with monitoring sensors set throughout the home which, in addition to temperature monitoring, also monitor interior air quality, humidity and dew points. Southern California’s abundant sunlight powers an 8-kW rooftop solar system which largely provides the electrical load required during the day and feeds unused generated power back to the utility grid for credit towards nighttime power usage. All exterior windows and doors are fitted with ultra high-performance glazing and together with the concrete wall construction, an insulated exterior rain screen cladding system, and the interior atrium providing passive cooling, the interior of the home is kept cool in the summer and warm in the winter, keeping the energy requirements of the home at a minimum.

All finish materials were chosen for their durability, beauty, natural characteristics and sensibility to balance and complement of the architectural concrete construction. The design seeks to create a material ensemble and detailing to “soften” the brutalist concrete and craft a warm, humancentric contemporary home that carries forward and contributes to a true and tested Southern California residential typology. 

Photo credit: Cameron Carothers

This tour is presented by the L.A. Forum for Architecture and Urban Design. 

RSVP HERE