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FRED FISHER & PARTNERS

Second Street Center

Santa Monica

Second Street Center is a dense mixed-use building on a small (50ft x 150ft) infill site in downtown Santa Monica, developed jointly by a non-profit housing corporation and the city. The program was developed to provide commercial frontage on a street and offices for the developer on the increasingly active alley. Above are 44 units of single room occupancy apartments and supporting community functions.

A single unit plan was used in blocks of four across on four levels. The three blocks of units face the street, the alley and one side. Variations were made to end units to increase their size and shorten the corridors. A terrace, community room, laundry and manager's apartment are located on the first level above the commercial spaces. The terrace area allows for skylight to the center of the commercial space.

Within sight of the project are three tower buildings from the thirties; the Georgian Hotel, The Central Tower Building and the Crocker Building. A mask of towers on each facade reiterates this theme at a reduced scale that relate to the individual apartments. The 350 square foot apartments have a single living space with a bay formed by the projecting towers. The bay creates a room within the room that can accomodate the minimal dwelling functions; bed, desk, table and chairs.

On the exterior, the towers make a row of intimately scaled buildings out of a single facade. These elements bring the scale of the room onto the street. The residences are supported above the commercial base on rusticated masonry based piers.

This project was completed with a minimum of of change orders. The contract documents were thorough and well coordinated. Frederick Fisher & Partners took the lead role during construction to insure completion on schedule as well as maintaining strict conformance with the contract documents. The result is a well executed finished building and an extremely satisfied client.