Canyon Drive by Lorcan O’Herlihy

Canyon Drive by Lorcan O’Herlihy received the 2017 Best of Year award in the On the Boards: Residential category. Learn more about Interior Design’s Best of Year awards.

Lorcan O’Herlihy is hard at work rethinking design conventions in the City of Angels. “Small-lot subdivision is something that continues to intrigue people here,” he says. His latest endeavor reinvents a local architectural signature: mid-century “dingbat” apartment buildings with cars below. This five-unit building, 12,000 square feet in all, sits perpendicular to the street to make full use of a lot originally intended for just one house. “It’s an opportunity to work within the height restrictions and create density in a way that has a vibrancy, an inventiveness,” he explains. A warm color palette and floor-to-ceiling windows add spaciousness and depth. Aluminum and polycarbonate add visual substance. Replacing traditional yard space in the front and back, individual roof decks emphasize what he calls “social connectivity” while celebrating the indoor-outdoor culture.

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