HOLA Performance Space and Classrooms  

Los Angeles, CA. 
Berliner Architects/Magnolia Schools

One of the first institutional shipping container projects approved in the City of Los Angeles, the HOLA facility provides music classes and performance space for children living in the Westlake District of Los Angeles.   Responding to initial concerns regarding taking over limited green space in a public park, the site improvements replaced well worn outdoor picnic areas with a lush gardens and a viewing space for the performance hall that that opens out to the site.  Site storm water is collected in a cistern and re-used for irrigation.  Over a dozen new plant species were introduced to the park including native roses and a variety of ground covers. New trees planted throughout the site replaced and exceeded shade lost to the new building.  The large viewing mound outside the performance space helped to reduce export of site soils which reduced the project’s carbon footprint.