An initiative of the AIA|LA Government Outreach Committee w/ the Leadership & Support of Omgivning

AIA Los Angeles is making on recommendations to the City of Los Angeles to prioritize housing production and preservation, and include specific solutions to address our ongoing housing and homelessness crisis.

With the help of Omgivning, an open letter has been crafted and sent to Mayor Karen Bass with Recommendations to Improve & Advance Adaptive Reuse Citywide.

Low Rise, High Stakes: What New State Laws Mean for Housing Policy, Residential Architecture, and Neighborhood Development in Los Angeles

Omgivning's Karin Liljegren and Albert Escobar presented in a discussion about California's SB9 and their award winning concept for low-rise density buildings. Watch this clip for Liljegren and Escobar's portion of the panel

Co-sponsored by Third LA and the Huntington-USC Institute on California and the West, this panel features architects, housing experts, and city planners that will consider the impact of Senate Bill 9, which allows single-family lots to be subdivided to hold up to four residential units, as well as other new state housing legislation. The discussion focused on strategies to promote affordability, neighborhood cohesion, and multigenerational living as the City works to locate housing closer to transit lines and job centers.

Moderated by Christopher Hawthorne, Chief Design Officer for the City of Los Angeles and Director of the Third L.A. Series at USC Dornsife, the panel also featured Thomas Robinson and Michael Faulkner from LEVER Architecture; Matt Glesne and Sarah Molina-Pearson from Los Angeles Department of City Planning; and Alejandro Gonzalez from Genesis LA.

Thinking Beyond The Ordinance

Creating a framework for reform to ensure economic viability, improve housing security, and foster sustainability

An Omgivning-led white paper report aims to contribute ideas and solutions for Los Angeles' post-earthquake resilience of non-ductile concrete buildings. To better prepare for Southern California’s next big earthquake, we spearheaded a team of stakeholders, including architects, engineers, city agencies and advocacy groups, with a white paper seeking to provide recommendations to reform the City of L.A.’s Non-Ductile Concrete (NDC) Ordinance. Constituting most concrete buildings erected before the 1976 L.A. City Building Code, “Non-Ductile” buildings are often brittle or inflexible due to minimal steel reinforcing, and therefore have not been safely reinforced to sustain earthquake damage. As currently written, L.A.’s NDC Ordinance requires all concrete buildings designed prior to January 13, 1977 to achieve minimum structural requirements within 25 years, or be demolished.

Central City Association (CCA) White Paper Provides Framework for Expanding Adaptive Reuse to Support Economic Recovery and Housing Creation

Central City Association (CCA) is an advocacy organization focusing on Central Los Angeles and Downtown. As the premiere adaptive reuse architects of Los Angeles, Omgivning partned with CCA to release a white paper on adaptive reuse's power to spur economic recovery from the pandemic and address the deep housing shortage, homelessness, and affordability crisis in the City of Los Angeles.

Adaptive reuse -- the repurposing of underutilized buildings to meet communities' present needs -- is a proven, successful practice that is especially key now as cities navigate changing demands to office, retail, hotel spaces and more.

CCA provides a set of recommendations, including allowing adaptive reuse citywide, that the City can implement now to convert obsolete buildings into housing and community-serving facilities.

Omgivning contributed heavily to the details in this report along with developer Tom Gilmore & Associates. Read the full white paper with a list of detailed recommendations at ccala.org/AdaptiveReuse.

The California Historical Building Code and Incentivizing Reuse Historic buildings provide challenges in meeting today's building codes. However, the California Historical Building Code (CHBC) is an alternative code to retain the historic character and features while meeting the accessibility and life safety mandates.

In the Fall of 2020 Karin Liljegren, FAIA and Joel Chappo, AIA of Omgivning presented a webinar on California Historic Building Code (CHBC) hosted by the California Preservation Foundation.

In this informative talk from Los Angeles's premier Adaptive Reuse Architecture and Interiors firm, Liljegren and Chappo discuss:

- Historic Broadway Commercial Reuse Bulletin: How LA City used the CHBC as a tool to incentivize redevelopment of an entire historic district
- Case Studies on applying Sections of the CHBC
- Applying the CHBC with Use & Occupancy, Fire Protection, Means of Egress, and Accessibility

Watch the full talk:

Accessing amenities within a pool enclosure is once again possible! Omgivning’s successful collaboration with LA County officials allows developers and designers to improve how millions of people experience pools in LA, all while improving safety.

Rooftop and open-air pools in Los Angeles used to allow people to freely go from the pool to the bar. However in 2016, barriers around pools became required additions, impeding easy access to and from the pool amenity areas. These pool enclosures were due to an LA County-issued interpretation of the state code for pool enclosures.

It's exciting to imagine that the Green New Deal might turn more real if the 2020 election goes... in a certain direction. For this piece by The Architect's Newspaper, Karin Liljegren talked about her wish list for the legislation.