Colorado Court

Abstract

The most advanced sustainable projects tend to serve highend clients, whether they are wealthy, far-sighted individuals willing to pay extra to push the boundaries of green design or deep-pocketed companies banking on the long-term benefits and positive publicity that come along with environmentally efficient architecture. Very few commercial clients who are scrambling to make ends meet decide to invest aggressively in sustainable design. And most landlords are not about to install solar panels or recycled water systems just so they can help lower their tenants’ utility bills. But at the corner of Fifth Street and Colorado Avenue in Santa Monica stands a monument to a different kind of green thinking, its grid of 199 blue solar panels reflecting the bright Southern California sunshine. Colorado Court, a five-story, forty-four-unit apartment complex that welcomed its first tenants in early 2003, is the first large residential complex in the United States to combine advanced sustainability with low-income housing. It was named one of the Top Ten Green Projects of 2003 by the American Institute of Architects.