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Overview

This new residence hall closed in an opening on the southwest corner of the Otis College of Art and Design Campus. It provided needed on-campus housing for art students and a new home for the Millard Sheets Library and student learning center. The building served as a screen to Loyola Boulevard, and created a campus yard for student activities. It was connected on the southeast to the new Academic Building (AB), containing a cafe, campus security office, 300-person auditorium, student life center, fashion archive, and fashion design classrooms and sewing studios on four floors.

Building History

Two noted Los Angeles architectural firms, Frederick Fisher and Partners and Ehrlich Architects collaborated on the design of this 6-story, multi-use Residence Hall (RH)/Millard Sheets Library for Otis College of Art and Design's campus in the Westchester neighborhood of Los Angeles, CA. The construction process consumed 23 months. The construction company, DPR Construction, headquartered in Redwood City, CA, had its Newport Beach and Pasadena, CA, branch offices handling this job. DPR's web site summarized the building's program: "Construction included a 6-story dormitory with 4 floors of student housing over a food service facility and library, linked to a four-story academic wing that houses the student union and resource center on its ground floor. Upper levels consist entirely of academic space that are subdivided into classrooms, studios and labs. The low-rise structure is divided into separate residential and academic wings, linked together by a 300-seat auditorium at ground level. The residential wing consists of four levels of student housing above dining facilities and the main library. Rooms consist of an assortment of four-person suites, featuring double bedrooms, a common living room and private bathrooms. The suites provide housing for up to 234 students, supplemented by additional living quarters for four resident advisors, an artist in residence, and a resident director." (See DPR Construction.com, "Otis College of Art and Design Classroom & Student Housing Expansion," accessed 02/08/2018.) DPR also served as the contractor for a 5,000-square foot wood and metal shop erected on campus at this time.

The RH and AB complex opened for student use on 08/18/2016. A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held on 08/22/2016, attended by Elaine Goldsmith, the main philanthropist who funded Otis's Westchester Campus, as well as architects Frederick Fisher and Steven Ehrlich, both members of the Otis Board of Governors, as well as Rodney Freeman, Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees, and Bruce W. Ferguson, Otis College President.

Building Notes

The new residence hall and other facilities contained about 91,000 square feet of new space, and included the planning of 7,500 square feet of landscaping.

PCAD id: 21803