It’s been a year since the Palisades and Eaton fires consumed over 37,000 acres in the Los Angeles area, tragically claiming more than two dozen lives and destroying about 16,000 structures — many of them homes. To help homeowners rebuild, Los Angeles-based Crest Real Estate launched the Case Study 2.0 program featuring a catalog of 50 single-family model homes that can be built quickly and economically. Inspired by the original 1945 Case Study program, the Case Study 2.0 homes are designed by esteemed architects from around the globe, including several firms with strong Bay Area ties, such as Backen & Backen, Geddes Ulinskas Architects, Marmol Radziner, Parco Studio and Richard Beard Architects.
“We were moved by the families in the Palisades, Malibu and Altadena communities who lost their homes to the fires,” says Geddes Ulinskas, principal at Geddes Ulinskas Architects, which was founded in San Francisco and recently opened an office in Los Angeles. “Our experience rebuilding after the Napa fires showed us firsthand how thoughtful design can help people recover and move forward without losing the special character that defined their neighborhoods.”
While updated for modern living, the Case Study 2.0 homes draw from the area’s rich architectural heritage and are designed with sustainability and fire resilience in mind. For example, Backen & Backen’s design features a standing seam metal roof, plaster walls, aluminum doors and windows, concrete accents and native plant landscaping. “Our regenerative practices department ensures we design not only for the built environment, but also for the ecological and sociocultural context of a place and the underlying resource flows that animate it,” says Patti Baker, principal architect at Backen & Backen, which has offices located in St. Helena, Sausalito, Montecito and Los Angeles.
Indeed, Case Study 2.0’s emphasis on resiliency in suburban residential design is relevant in other wildfire-prone areas as well — including here at home. “The Bay Area faces many of the same risks, from wildfires in the surrounding hills to broader climate challenges,” Ulinskas says. “Our work with the Case Study 2.0 program demonstrates just how important it is to fire-harden dense urban communities.”
Lotus Abrams has covered everything from beauty to business to tech in her editorial career, but it might be writing about her native Bay Area that inspires her most. She lives with her husband and two daughters in the San Francisco Peninsula, where they enjoy spending time outdoors at the area’s many open spaces protected and preserved by her favorite local nonprofit, the Peninsula Open Space Trust.
