Embodying the relationship between performance and expression, the most notable feature of the project is an array of fixed aluminum louvers that synthesize multiple competing requirements, performance, aesthetic, and construction. This approach re-couples the facade strategically with both the performative and the practical, indexing the needs of the building against its performative requirements while acknowledging its place in both the tradition of architecture and the urban environment.

Courtenay Bauer is a Principal of Los Angeles-based architectural firm Verse Design, which has a sister studio in Shanghai. Prior to co-founding Verse Design LA in 2015, Courtenay worked as a project architect at offices on both coasts of the United States. Courtenay leverages more than 20 years of focused experience in architectural planning, design and contract administration on a variety of projects in the United States and China. Her work is committed to the ideas and importance of efficient and sustainable construction, while advocating for the implementation of innovation in our built environment. As Principal, Courtenay’s strengths lie in her ability to adroitly identify a project’s status and manage a team to exceed delivery expectations (her background in roller derby often proves itself useful during site visits and difficult negotiations).

We are a progressive firm that is committed to the creation of quality architecture and sensible design. Verse Design LA’s research-based design process drives spatial innovation that seeks design solutions from the origin of the design problem. We seek uncommon solutions within the common. Employing a multi-disciplinary approach to the making of architecture, our work is grounded in active social, environmental, and economic issues while aesthetically exploring the ideas of beauty, sustainability, cultural convention, and place. We are committed to enduring architecture and responsible development, keystones to neighborhood growth and improvement. It is with this conviction; we fuel our practice