PHILLIPS
On a charming street corner in West Hollywood, right off Santa Monica Boulevard, we had the honor of kicking off our first collab with LA-based architecture studio Formation Association as they created the famous auction house Phillips' first ever west coast home. From the moment the studio's co-founder John walked us through his approach for the project we were hooked — his poetic explanation for the front entrance evoking Greek ruins felt like a "you had me at hello" moment. We had less than six weeks before the big opening, but we knew it was going to be a super fun collaboration with lots of room for creativity and abstract thinking, well aligned with John's larger vision for the project.
Though not a large space, the garden would flank the entire facade and therefore each moment in the garden could theoretically function as a visitor's first impression — from the front entry to the bookends of the property, we approached every aspect of the design with the same intention and care. As an homage to Phillips' European roots and their move west, we played off the two neighboring properties’ garden styles skewing traditional European garden on the west and Mediterranean on the north. We converged a style of drought tolerant plants echoing each of those adjacent gardens (and Phillips HQ) into a native garden that said southern California loud and clear. While we did incorporate a cactus to add some structure and a quintessential LA feel off the main entrance, you’ll otherwise mostly find a classic native mix of Achillea millefolium, Bouteloua gracilis, Eriogonum fasciculatum, Baccharis pilularis, Muhlenbergia rigens, and Salvia clevelandii. We also incorporated three boulders of varying size and shape set amongst laurel and yarrow, their blue hues playing nicely off the yosemite gravel — both a nice contrast (but not too much) from the mix of smooth and textured gray stucco facade.
Additionally, given the garden’s quaint size and the commitment of the team, it was decided that this mostly native garden would be all hand watered, which, when pursued earnestly, and only when, is a good approach for natives. Given it’s Phillips' first location in LA, we considered this our version of a buyer’s premium.
Thank you to both the Formation Association and Phillips teams for being such great partners throughout the whole process — your enthusiasm for natives and encouraging our more abstract inspiration for your garden (thank you, neighbors) made this project extra rewarding for us.
Check out Formation’s feature on the project in Dezeen!
