This Prefab Apartment Building in L.A. Tests a New Vision for Housing

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Over time, Aaron van Schaik’s career in residential real estate development left him baffled. He saw how inefficiencies made the construction process more expensive, and that results were often bland and uninspired. "Housing is the largest asset class in the world, but the current production process is like if Toyota designed a custom car for every buyer and then assembled it in the customer’s driveway," he says.

In 2020, van Schaik founded SuperLA, a design and development startup seeking to redefine how we build homes. They create repeatable designs for multifamily buildings constructed with a panelized system made of cross-laminated timber (CLT). The system seeks to prioritize occupant and planetary health, says van Schaik, as well as design and construction efficiencies.

SuperLA’s first housing development is an apartment complex in L.A.’s Silver Lake neighborhood called SuperBungalows. Opened in March, the building stands out as the first CLT multifamily project built in Southern California. It contains nine rental units with private terraces and no shared walls, plus outdoor common spaces and a host of energy efficient details.

At a time when Los Angeles direly needs more affordable housing, this development offers units listed well above the average for the area. SuperBungalows’s one-bed, one-bath units ask $4,250 per month, while two and twos are $6,750. (The median in Silver Lake is around $2,500 for a one-bed apartment, according to listing services.) Van Schaik recognizes that this means they aren’t accessible to everyone, but hopes that future developments can accommodate a wider income set.

Here, van Schaik shares how he created SuperBungalows, and how SuperLA is putting its new multifamily housing plan into action.

What is SuperBungalows and how does it stand apart from other multifamily buildings in Los Angeles?

SuperBungalows represents the completed first step in our mission to usher in a new era of housing. We wanted to bring a housing product to market that we believe represents everything that housing should be: occupant focused, while working in collaboration with the planet.

The building’s design is a modern take on bungalow court homes that incorporates what makes these designs great. The homes have no shared walls, feature large private terraces, multiple communal gardens, open-air walkways and stairs, and a ridiculous amount of light and air.

What kind of occupants is the development meant for?

Living in a home that prioritizes your well-being is good for everyone. While we as a society heavily invest in health and wellness, we don’t necessarily see the place that we live—our home—as part of that equation. At SuperLA, we deeply believe the spaces you occupy have a tremendous impact on how you feel. That’s why everything we do is designed to help people understand that their home is the foundation for their well-being.