The Children’s Institute (CII) in Los Angeles will open a 200,000-sf campus designed by Frank Gehry this summer. The new development will provide CII with its first purpose-built home in L.A.’s Watts neighborhood, and is designed to host programs and offer resources for this economically disadvantaged community.
CII has been a dedicated non-profit organization for 116 years, and has worked with the Watts Community since 2007. They have partnered with families, as well as other community organizations, to provide services like counseling and workshops. This campus at Success Avenue and East 102nd Street in South LA will centralize Children’s Institute’s operations in the area.
Gehry’s design aims to downplay the building’s mass, while showcasing the important community work happening inside. The facade is broken down to relate to the adjacent single-family residences using simple interlocking volumes made of plaster and corrugated metal cladding. The priority was to create a welcoming building, one that was scaled appropriately to the surrounding neighborhood and one that feels approachable.
The interior is full of natural light from the large windows and the many skylights throughout. Double-height public spaces are scaled to accommodate larger community gatherings, while office areas are open to the central atrium below on the second floor. A series of small group and individual therapy rooms are located off the atrium, each with large windows to fill the space with natural light.
Designed For the Community
The Watts campus was intentionally designed to make a connection between CII and the Watts community. The building operates both as a community center and a therapy center, and offers space for neighborhood meetings and events. The center will be home to a number of outreach programs that directly respond to the issues within the community, including the Watts Gang Task Force and the LAPD Community Safety Partnership. Programs include:
- Toddler socialization
- Individual and group counseling
- Youth development
- Parenting workshops
- Workforce development/employment support
- Project fatherhood sessions
“The new Watts campus is a beautiful symbol of Children’s Institute’s ongoing commitment to our city and this neighborhood in particular,” said Los Angeles Police Department Captain and Children’s Institute Trustee Emada Tingirides. “I know that my patrol officers that work in the community of Watts have a partner as we try to address some of the concerns, trauma and violence in the community. Children’s Institute continues to be an unwavering partner to Watts families year after year.”
The Children’s Institute has planned a Community Celebration on June 25 at the new Watts Campus to welcome families to enjoy a day of performances and activities.
Building Team:
Owner and developer: CII
Architect of Record: Chait & Company
Design architect: Gehry Partners, LLP
MEP engineer: Schnackel Engineers
Structural engineer: Workpoint Engineering
Landscape Architect: Elysian Landscapes
General contractor/construction manager: Oltmans Construction Co.
![Children's Institute Watts Campus aerial](/sites/default/files/inline-images/Children%E2%80%99s%20Institute%20Watts%20Campus%2C%20aerial%20view.%20Photo%20by%20Oltmans.%20Courtesy%20of%20Children%E2%80%99s%20Institute.jpg)
![Children's Institute Watts Campus int](/sites/default/files/inline-images/Children%E2%80%99s%20Institute%20Watts%20Campus%2C%20two-story%20atrium.%20Photo%20by%20Oltmans.%20Courtesy%20of%20Children%E2%80%99s%20Institute.jpg)
Related Stories
| Jan 19, 2011
Industrial history museum gets new home in steel plant
The National Museum of Industrial History recently renovated the exterior of a 1913 steel plant in Bethlehem, Pa., to house its new 40,000-sf exhibition space. The museum chose VOA Associates, which is headquartered in Chicago, to complete the design for the exhibit’s interior. The exhibit, which has views of five historic blast furnaces, will feature artifacts from the Smithsonian Institution to illustrate early industrial America.
| Jan 19, 2011
San Diego casino renovations upgrade gaming and entertainment
The Sycuan Casino in San Diego will get an update with a $27 million, 245,000-sf renovation. Hnedak Bobo Group, Memphis, Tenn., and Cleo Design, Las Vegas, drew design inspiration from the historic culture of the Sycuan tribe and the desert landscape, creating a more open space with better circulation. Renovation highlights include a new “waterless” water entry feature and new sports bar and grill, plus updates to gaming, poker, off-track-betting, retail, and bingo areas. The local office of San Francisco-based Swinerton Builders will provide construction services.
| Jan 19, 2011
New Fort Hood hospital will replace aging medical center
The Army Corps of Engineers selected London-based Balfour Beatty and St. Louis-based McCarthy to provide design-build services for the Fort Hood Replacement Hospital in Texas, a $503 million, 944,000-sf complex partially funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The firm plans to use BIM for the project, which will include outpatient clinics, an ambulance garage, a central utility plant, and three parking structures. Texas firms HKS Architects and Wingler & Sharp will participate as design partners. The project seeks LEED Gold.
| Jan 19, 2011
Museum design integrates Greek history and architecture
Construction is under way in Chicago on the National Hellenic Museum, the nation’s first museum devoted to Greek history and culture. RTKL designed the 40,000-sf limestone and glass building to include such historic references as the covered walkway of classical architecture and the natural wood accents of Byzantine monasteries. The museum will include a research library and oral history center, plus a 3,600-sf rooftop terrace featuring three gardens. The project seeks LEED Silver.
| Jan 4, 2011
An official bargain, White House loses $79 million in property value
One of the most famous office buildings in the world—and the official the residence of the President of the United States—is now worth only $251.6 million. At the top of the housing boom, the 132-room complex was valued at $331.5 million (still sounds like a bargain), according to Zillow, the online real estate marketplace. That reflects a decline in property value of about 24%.
| Jan 4, 2011
Luxury hotel planned for Palace of Versailles
Want to spend the night at the Palace of Versailles? The Hotel du Grand Controle, a 1680s mansion built on palace grounds for the king's treasurer and vacant since the French Revolution, will soon be turned into a luxury hotel. Versailles is partnering with Belgian hotel company Ivy International to restore the dilapidated estate into a 23-room luxury hotel. Guests can live like a king or queen for a while—and keep their heads.
| Dec 17, 2010
Sam Houston State arts programs expand into new performance center
Theater, music, and dance programs at Sam Houston State University have a new venue in the 101,945-sf, $38.5 million James and Nancy Gaertner Performing Arts Center. WHR Architects, Houston, designed the new center to connect two existing buildings at the Huntsville, Texas, campus.
| Dec 17, 2010
Subway entrance designed to exude Hollywood charm
The Hollywood/Vine Metro portal and public plaza in Los Angeles provides an entrance to the Red Line subway and the W Hollywood Hotel. Local architect Rios Clementi Hale Studio designed the portal and plaza to flow with the landmark theaters and plazas that surround it.
| Dec 17, 2010
Toronto church converted for condos and shopping
Reserve Properties is transforming a 20th-century church into Bellefair Kew Beach Residences, a residential/retail complex in The Beach neighborhood of Toronto. Local architecture firm RAWdesign adapted the late Gothic-style church into a five-story condominium with 23 one- and two-bedroom units, including two-story penthouse suites. Six three-story townhouses also will be incorporated. The project will afford residents views of nearby Kew Gardens and Lake Ontario. One façade of the church was updated for retail shops.
| Nov 23, 2010
The George W. Bush Presidential Center, which will house the former president’s library
The George W. Bush Presidential Center, which will house the former president’s library and museum, plus the Bush Institute, is aiming for LEED Platinum. The 226,565-sf center, located at Southern Methodist University, in Dallas, was designed by architect Robert A.M. Stern and landscape architect Michael Van Valkenburgh.