Cleantech incubator, public utility sustainable energy education center, and neighborhood park
La Kretz Innovation Campus + Arts District Park in Los Angeles, California aims to create a dialogue among clean technology innovators, residents, and visitors. La Kretz Innovation Campus’s 61,000-square-foot renovated warehouse in the Downtown Los Angeles’ Arts District is designed to serve as a “hub” for engineers, entrepreneurs, scientists, and policymakers.
La Kretz Innovation Campus + Arts District Park is an innovative way for a city to participate in economic development.
2017 Selection Committee
Flexible open and closed workspaces and an inner loop connecting the warehouse’s eight bays foster interaction, and the building features faceted walls and skylights for abundant natural light. Arts District Park – the first public park in the neighborhood – likewise offers a variety of multi-functional spaces to create an “outdoor living room” for the campus and neighborhood. The park creates a “green oasis” while meeting high sustainability standards, including 100% storm watercapture and gray water irrigation, and it balances its small size with small-scale habitable spaces along the edges that make the park look and feel more expansive. Completed in 2016, funding for the $49.2 million project was provided by public and private sources and including New Market Tax Credits.