California

Granada Court 2

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The delightful shared spaces in Granada Courts make densities of 50 units to the acre feel relaxed and livable. The fountain court and narrow staircases could fit naturally into a Mykonos hillside. Smart use of the courtyard allows what would otherwise be common-space hallways to be reborn as balconies and loggias.

Granada Courts 1

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This is state-of-the-art California courtyard housing designed by someone who knows the form well, Stefanos Polyzoides. It shows Los Angeles how to build densities in or near existing downtowns -- in this case 50 units to the acre within a block of Pasadena's Colorado Boulevard. Residents have a one-block walk to Target and about a 5-block walk to Metro's Gold Line. It also adds density gracefully, avoiding the bulkiness of nearby stacked-flats and using intimate-yet-airy European spaces to break up the space.