3223 Wilshire establishes a new mixed-use gateway to Santa Monica from its location along an east-west thoroughfare at the city’s border with Los Angeles. The project creates indoor/outdoor retail and 53 new homes while paying homage to the elemental convergence of mountains and ocean through its interplay of solid and fluid materiality.

Ribbons of wood screens and glass express the dynamism of the project’s retail and circulation spaces. From behind its glazed façade, ground floor retail anchors the prominent corner at Wilshire and Centinela. The frontage is sculpted to create a lively street edge, enhancing the pedestrian realm with a generous, arcaded sidewalk and welcoming visitors to a south-facing plaza with planters, lighting, and outdoor seating. The ground floor also accommodates service spaces, residential reception, and a bike room, as well as several apartments that open onto a landscaped wrap-around walkway.

Upper-floor residences are clad fiber-cement rainscreen panels perforated by metal fin-shaded windows and private balconies. Open-air corridors, a podium-level courtyard, top-floor terrace, and sunny southwest stair encourage active use and enjoyment of the mild coastal climate while mitigating the building’s energy demand. Setbacks and stepbacks maximize daylight to units and to neighboring parcels. The top floor terrace, perched above the intersection of Wilshire and Centinela, provides sweeping views of LA while reinforcing the building’s role as a Santa Monica landmark.