Spiritual / Jerry’s Place
Jerry’s Place
SHALOM INSTITUTE DINING HALL
The greenest act of all: Take dank, old throwaway building set in a precious sensitive riparian,
environment- apply a tiny budget, save it, let nature-air, view, space, and light-in and make it the
campus center.
-Large French doors replacing small windows
-A huge new deck with seating edges to meet grade and accommodate large groups or
many small groupings
-New poured-in-place indoor and outdoor grand fireplace and hearth
-Recycled linoleum flooring and wall/ceiling plywood sheathing
-Grand skylight illuminating and articulating many new spaces with light
-New swamp-coolers, together with massive fresh air from new openings – to achieve
extremely energy efficient comfort
This project is about using extremely succinct moves to radically transform and ennoble an
undistinguished old building, making it into a high-performing centerpiece of a precious 180 acre
camp landscape in the Malibu hills.
BACKGROUND
This run-down building has served thousands of campers over its 55 year history. It has been closed
off from its context, effectively disconnecting itself from the outdoors for over half a century. With
an extremely limited budget and the virtual certainty of triggering significant environmental
regulations with new construction, it was decided to try to save this underperforming, unremarkable
building.
SOLUTION
Leverage an extraordinary site, an oak-filled riparian valley floor--that has always been disconnected
from the interior denying significant access, views and natural light—by dramatically and simply
opening the building up, both horizontally to the landscape, and vertically to the sky and the tree
tops.
Westside Prize, Westside Urban Forum 2011
Award of Merit for Excellence in Design, The American Institute of Architects Los Angeles 2010
Gold Nugget Award of Merit for Excellence & Value for Best Rehab Commercial/Industrial Project, PCBC 2010
The Vision Award, The Shalom Institute 2009
Magazine Mitch Paradise New, Green Jerry's Place for Camp JCA Shalom ( Jewish Family)
2011 January/February FORM Magazine Design Awards: Merit
