2024 Summer Issue of Urban Land - 84

Kaiser
Permanente
Transforms
Southern
California
Location
39,000 members in Watts
community to benefit from
new medcial facilities
YAN KRYMSKY
For many who live outside Southern
California, the Watts neighborhood of Los
Angeles is remembered for the welldocumented
riots of 1965, a six-day
period of civil unrest that brought 34
fatalities, numerous injuries, and widespread
arrests.
Soon after the riots, a Kaiser social
worker named Bill Coggins felt compelled
to make a place for healing and hope in
the neighborhood. He first embedded
himself in the community to understand
its needs. In 1967 he led the opening of
the Kaiser Foundation Parent-Child Center,
which later became the Watts Counseling
and Learning Center (CLC). Since its conception,
the CLC has offered a variety of
services, including counseling, an accredited
preschool, and programs focused on
the development of essential life skills.
Building on this nearly six-decade
commitment to the community, Kaiser
Permanente resolved to rebuild the CLC's
existing facilities and develop new medical
offices to deliver primary and specialized
care, including pharmacy, radiology,
and laboratory services to its 39,000
members living and working in the Watts
community. That new building opened in
February.
Cultivating well-being
through design
As the architects who partnered with
Kaiser and the CLC to realize their vision,
several guiding principles informed how
we approached the design. One of our
most deeply held values in our studio is
that design can be a powerful agent for
growth in communities, but only when it
is genuine and meaningful.
A meaningful expression of architecture
in health care design is the same as
it would be in most other project types,
drawing inspiration from the unfolding
narrative of its locale. As we explored the
possibilities of expressing the spirit of
Watts in this project, we knew we wanted
to create a meaningful, contextually rich
space that would capture the inherent
character of the community.
Designing a connection
to the community
The primary design task for the project
in terms of function was to connect the
CLC and the new medical offices-two
very different programs and operational
models with a shared mission of bringing
growth to Watts. Through a collaborative
process with Kaiser, the Counseling
and Learning Center, and the community,
we arrived at a solution that took two
structures-one for the CLC, another for
the medical offices-and developed an
interlocking design that keeps the two
programs simultaneously connected yet
separate. The result is a sculptural form
that gives the community a refreshed destination
embodying health and well-being.
Kaiser Permanente resolved to rebuild the Watts Counseling and Learning Center's existing facilities and develop new
medical offices to deliver primary and specialized care, including pharmacy, radiology, and laboratory services.
84
URBAN LAND SUMMER 202 4
PERKINS & WILL

2024 Summer Issue of Urban Land

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