DOWNTOWN MENTAL HEALTH CENTER

COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES

The Downtown Mental Health Center is a service facility operated by the County of Los Angeles Department of Public Works located in the skid row district. After its conversion from an existing parking garage, GGA’s primary design challenge was creating interiors with safe and secure yet comforting and supportive space out of a structure comprised of simple concrete slab and column construction.

The 52,000sf office and treatment space design opted to reflect its urban setting through the embrace of raw materials and  structure while at the same time softening the often times stressful and threatening institutional users experience.  The approach allowed mechanical and infrastructural elements to be integrated into the environment in a unassuming and cohesive manner leaving room for effective and efficient use of the limited space.