NATALIE RUIZ
Associate Principal, Luxury Multifamily Residential
and Senior/Later Living
WATG and Wimberly Interiors
Natalie Ruiz is recognized as a leader in senior living design with roots in multi-family and urban, mixed-use projects. She has taken numerous projects from concept and entitlements through construction.
For example, Ruiz transformed an unsafe, unlicensed and structurally unsound 1966 structure, originally designed as a dormitory adjacent to UCLA, into a safe and licensed senior living community, now known as The Watermark at Westwood Village. By stripping the building down to its structure and recreating a state-of-the-art senior living community, the results establish a prominent landmark in the Westwood community that adds to the diversity of the community’s demographic. Ruiz was responsible for leading and navigating the challenging entitlement and approvals process, and ensuring the design is thinking about the future of senior living, exploiting potential connections to the community in its urban setting, and placing emphasis on creating a sense of purpose and belonging for its residents.
