LA Psychoanalytic Institute 

The LA Psychoanalytic Institute is located mid-block between two streets of a small but busy commercial area in West Los Angeles. The Institute's multi-functional program required a 10,000-volume research library, a flexible lecture hall, seminar classrooms, a small referral clinic, and administrative offices. The 6,500 sq. ft. building required a "relaxed and open environment" in contrast to the confined office space typically occupied by the membership. Future expansion of a small independent clinic was also to be considered. 

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A walled complex was designed with private gardens and walkways to provide the institute with quiet outdoor garden space and to screen the street noise from nearby Sawtelle Boulevard. This design also allowed flexibility to add a clinic, expand its office wing, or add meeting rooms around the sides of the interior court yard. 

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The building is organized around circulation that connects the two street entrances at the the front and rear of the site. Along this path, the central gallery with its brick floor and overhead skylight extending the length of the building, provides a clear separation between administrative and learning functions. 

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The combination reading room/lecture hall with three adjoining seminar rooms, provides a flexible space scaled to accommodate a handful of people or a capacity audience of 250. ​