Los Angeles–based development firm SuperLA has created a new multifamily housing blueprint. SuperBungalows is a modern take on early 20th-century Sears catalog homes with a sustainable edge. The firm’s first project, nine-unit SuperBungalows on Marathon, was recently completed in Los Angeles’s Silver Lake neighborhood, making it the first cross-laminated timber (CLT) multifamily project in Southern California.
SuperLA founder Aaron van Schaik has worked on multifamily housing projects for over 12 years. Van Schaik shared with AN Interior, “I started SuperLA because I am frustrated by the quality of housing our industry was (and is) producing and I want to usher in change. At SuperLA we are designing and building homes that make people feel good, by prioritizing the occupant and their well-being, and through a focus on construction methods, materials, and systems that work in collaboration with the planet.” To that end, through its unique bungalows the firm is in pursuit of changing the status quo band-aid solution to the housing crisis.
Two products have been developed so far: one bedroom 1:1 SuperBungalow Homes which total more than 660-square-feet; and the 1,320-square-foot, two-bedroom 2:2 SuperBungalow Homes. These blueprints can be grouped together to form multifamily compounds that can be adjusted to the surrounding landscape.
Van Schaik views homes as individual products. As such the SuperLA homes can be copied and pasted in various locations using the SuperOS “operating system,” a process aimed at streamlining design and construction. It hinges on three goals: Optimize, Productize, and Panelize. Optimize is where SuperLA eliminates an extended communication line by acting as the developer, builder, architect, and project manager. Through the Productize portion, SuperLA has reduced the typical 8-to-12-month development and design process down to a mere 2-to-4-month process. And Panelize refers to the apartment kit production process is reduced by having portions of the apartment prefabricated at a facility to then be assembled on site. Van Schaik elaborated, “Through standardizing our homes as products, we are able to optimize off-site construction and manufacturing by fine-tuning our systems for a consistent suite of components.”
Inside the prefabricated capsules, Scandinavian influences provide a sense of ease. There is a soft, quiet range of beige and white tones exhibited through the use of organic materials. Eco-Clicks Cork floors by Capri Collections mirror the grainy timber ceilings, which are accompanied by creamy, eggshell-coated walls from Benjamin Moore’s zero-emission Eco-Spec paint.
Similar to the walls, the kitchen offers clean, white sheen countertops from Grenite Recycled Surfaces. Each SuperBungalow includes a series of floor-to-ceiling wooden cased Pella windows, allowing natural light to seep into every room. Subtle hints of color were added to the interiors in the Mosa tiles used in the kitchen and the bathroom. Circular light fixtures from RBW’s Pastille and Crisp collections accent the dynamic elements and augment a connection to nature.
In suit with the sustainable focus, SuperBungalows were designed with entirely electric outfits, 100 percent rainwater capture, and the housing units run mostly on solar power. Describing the interior, architect Jeff Chinn shared how it prioritizes connecting each occupant to nature: “When you step into one of our Bungalows, you will immediately notice the expansive views ahead, the extensive cross-laminated timber surface above, and the warm cork flooring below. These elements, complemented by timber millwork, timber window frames, and natural tones of tiles dominate your field of vision.”
After success with the CLT homes in Marathon, more SuperBungalows are underway in Hyperion, slated for completion in 2025. With these multifamily templates, SuperLA is also developing the NiceOut single-family product series. When asked what aspect about SuperLA is most exciting, van Schaik shared: “Homes can be way better than what our industry is currently producing, so we are just excited to keep pushing the envelope to show what is possible.”