Clive Wilkinson Architects

In January 2025, destructive wildfires swept through the Pacific Palisades and neighboring communities in Los Angeles. In the Sunset Mesa neighborhood alone, 300 homes were lost. Two homeowners from that area asked us to help develop a collective rebuild strategy that could make recovery more affordable, coordinated, and achievable, allowing people to rebuild who otherwise could not.

To achieve economies of scale Clive Wilkinson Architects needed to standardize house types, while still allowing personalization. Working pro-bono through a series of zoom calls over 4 months, the firm engaged with community members, building trust and gathering input.

Clive Wilkinson Architects developed repeatable house types, and collaborated with builders to reduce complexity and capture economies of scale. The firm also addressed fire resilience with both the houses and the landscape. Variations of house looks and interior views were explored and shared with the homeowners. The firm then addressed challenges with the group on site, and advanced through soliciting the stakeholder commitments. The firm named the project ‘Seaview Homes.’

Through this collective effort, the firm arrived at the following strategy:

Build trust first. With pro-bono design work, meetings, and presentations helping residents see the opportunity and form a collective around a limited set of house types.

Welcome community input. Meetings and surveys refined the house types while preserving room for individual choice.

Fund the next phase. Fifteen homeowners made nominal contributions, enabling further design, engineering, contractor review, and accurate pricing.

Standardize house types. Stakeholders and architects finalized four options: two single-story and two two-story homes, working with the builder.

Capture savings. Coordinated design and production builder pricing reduced custom designed house costs by about 50% and greatly shortened construction timelines.

Align with public agencies. Los Angeles County was very supportive of the process, and permits were expedited within broader public-agency recovery efforts. The LA County Supervisor and her team promoted the groundbreaking for the first homes, and The New York Times covered the project as an exemplar of collective rebuilding.

Twenty-two homes are now lined up for construction. The firm launched a website (www.seaviewhomesmalibu.com) to promote ‘Seaview Homes’ to the community—keeping the door open to more homeowners joining the program.

This community-initiated, designer-led, and builder-supported model of collective rebuilding demonstrates how disaster-affected communities can move from individual uncertainty to collective action. The collective rebuilding approach can lower costs, accelerate recovery, and give disaster-affected communities a practical path forward.