LOC Architects’ Chinatown remodel: two claustrophobic apartments become one light, airy, live-work space

Jeevanjee and Sharma combined the two 600-square-foot apartments and carved out a 17-by-11-foot opening in the roof to create a courtyard at the center. “Our first priority was in creating an outdoor dining area, because we both love to eat outdoors,” says Jeevanjee, who moved from Silver Lake. “In our old place we had a 10-person dining table on the patio, and we wanted to re-create that somehow.”  (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

The new courtyard delivers natural light to adjacent rooms, including the master bedroom, a baby’s room and a home office. Pivoting glass Arcadia doors connect the open living area and kitchen to the outdoor space, now furnished with an LOC-designed marble-top dining table. “You could say that the entire apartment was designed around a table,” says Sharma, 36. “Once we had that, everything else fell into place.” Clerestory windows can allow fresh air inside, even when the doors below are closed.  (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

The 1,000-square-foot home feels surprisingly large for its modest size. That’s especially true in the living area, which includes a spacious open kitchen.  (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

Jeevanjee, left, and Sharma, holding the couple’s baby, Noor. The couple used plywood for the floor, ceiling and built-ins that contrast nicely with aluminum accents throughout the home.  (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

A modern ceiling set against the ceiling.  (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

Plywood case work in the living room.  (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

In the kitchen and office, Sharma and Jeevanjee used IKEA cabinets accented with hardware of their own design. “That was our basic challenge,” Sharma says. “To use inexpensive materials and use them in a way that’s beautiful — because there’s an art to teasing beauty out of the ordinary.”   (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

A formerly dark, claustrophobic space is opened up.  (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

The master bedroom.  (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

The bathroom opens onto the courtyard, and the vibrant tile continues outside. Jeevanjee likes to play with the ideas of transparency and connectivity — that occupants can look from one room to another, even across an exterior space like a patio or courtyard. “It’s a little more difficult to do that in a small space like this,” he says. “But not impossible.”  (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

Jeevanjee and Sharma in their office.  (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

A visual connection between the office and the living area, but with the courtyard providing some separation.  (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

Sharma with 7-week-old Noor. As architects with more than a passing interest in urban planning, she and Jeevanjee were thrilled to move to Chinatown, where the mix of residential and retail development in close proximity to public transit made for a vibrant, pedestrian-friendly neighborhood.  (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

An open-air window offers a hint of the courtyard that lies beyond. For Jeevanjee and Sharma, a live-work space in a community such as Chinatown makes sense. “We’re finding ourselves with increased traffic problems and density problems,” Jeevanjee says. “So it makes sense that mixed-use is back en vogue.” For more information on Jeevanjee and Sharma, click to the LOC Architects website, http://www.locllc.org. For a peek inside more Southern California houses, condos and apartments, click to the Homes of The Times gallery.  (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)