2024 Summer Issue of Urban Land - 85

An outdoor plaza serves as the main
point of welcome for patients, visitors,
and staff. A ring of services borders the
plaza and includes the CLC 's preschool,
an adjacent play yard, and the new medical
office building, as well as a café and
community rooms.
A ceramic tile mosaic anchors the
outdoor space and preschool play yard
at the southeast corner of the complex.
The tilework depicts a colorful grid
showing cross-sectioned fruits and vegetables.
Our inspiration came from a piece
of art we discovered in a tour of the
facility: a watercolor depicting the CLC's
2017 Rose Parade float.
The float incorporated representations
of the Watts Towers, kids playing
at the facility, and a central fruit stand,
a reminder of the farmers market that
the site used to host. At a time when
residents in Watts had limited access to
fresh produce, the CLC played host to a
market to meet that specific community
need. Even as the mosaic makes for a
vibrant building façade, it also tells an
important story highlighting a point of
pride for the organization and symbolizing
the many ways it has served the
community over the years.
The project's interior design approach
draws inspiration from geodes, stones
prized for the crystalline structures
hidden by their rough and irregular exteriors,
symbolism that we believe aptly
expresses the resilience and cultural
richness of the Watts community. This
concept is reflected in the use of a gray
color palette throughout the interior
spaces, punctuated by areas of intense
color to highlight key destination points,
such as the pharmacy, café, main conference
room, and a preschool classroom,
establishing a visual wayfinding strategy
and deepening the expressive nature of
the project.
Ripple effect
New developments, especially at this
scale, can serve as economic engines
within their communities. Better-paying
jobs and thriving businesses often
contribute to the overall health that is
needed in a community. This project
and others like it produce a ripple effect
Perkins & Will's interior design approach draws inspiration from geodes, stones
prized for crystalline structures hidden by rough and irregular exteriors.
of sustained impact, creating jobs and
increasing services that can encourage
people to live, and potentially work, in
the neighborhood.
Any new medical office building on
this site would create jobs and have
an overall economic and health benefit
for the community, but what's different
about this one? It starts with the way it
presents itself on the street. There is no
gated access road. You can walk right
off the sidewalk onto the plaza. The site
has no visible security, and the rolling
gate that secures the space at night is
tucked away into the landscape. The
café further activates the public space.
The community rooms are available to
all for events and gatherings. Free public
health information is available to anyone
who enters, not just to Kaiser members.
It's a message of openness, inclusion,
and overall community fellowship.
An eye on the past,
a plan for the future
For Bill Coggins' significant work in helping
the Watts community, Kaiser Permanente
honored him with its 2024 George
Halvorson Community Health Leadership
Award. It recognizes exemplary leadership
in improving the health of our communities.
As
the new facility expands services
in the Watts community, it stands ready
to support the well-being of generations
to come, reflecting a practical and hopeful
step forward in the ongoing story of
the community.
In this project, we aspired to weave
a narrative of hope and care through an
intentional use of color, form, and material
expressed in features such as the
mosaic tile and overall building form. By
creating a space inspired by the community's
spirit, we believe it can be a vehicle
of elevated personal and collective
well-being, contributing to the future of
the neighborhood. This project served as
an opportunity for architecture to transcend
mere functionality. It aimed to be
a canvas for storytelling and celebration,
a space where the inherent strength and
potential of Watts could be reflected.
Especially on a site steeped in such
a rich history-located in the neighborhood's
civic center, cultivated in the
history of the CLC-we are obligated to
create a spatial opportunity for celebration,
reflection, and promise. Although
the true impact will undoubtedly unfold
over time, our hope is that the design
fosters a sense of connection and optimism,
both within the structures and
throughout the surrounding community.
UL
YAN KRYMSKY is design director at Perkins & Will in
Los Angeles.
SUMMER 202 4
URBAN LAND
85
INDUSTRY VOICES
PERKINS & WILL
2024 Summer Issue of Urban Land

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of 2024 Summer Issue of Urban Land
