Cesar Pelli Adds A Little Red to His Green and Blue Series

The final piece of architect Cesar Pelli's 14-acre Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood, Calif., was recently unveiled. The "Red Building," a spectacular 400,000-sf red glass-clad complex of offices and parking, will be built beside Pelli's "Blue Whale," which opened in 1975 and was followed in 1988 by the Pacific "Green" Building, also on the site. Owner/developer Charles S. Cohen said construction of the Red Building is expected to begin this year and should be completed within 24 months of its start.

Designed to allow for a variety of office floors ranging in size from 14,000 to 36,000 sf, the six-story West Tower and eight-story East Tower will feature "sky lobbies" overlooking a palm court configured for maximum energy efficiency.

The design team working on the Red Building includes: AREA Architects of London, which is responsible for office lobbies and public spaces; landscape architect Thomas Balsley Associates of London; Selbert Perkins Design of Los Angeles, which is creating the building's environmental graphics program; Pelli's firm, Pelli Clarke Pelli Associates, as project architect; and Gruen Associates, Los Angeles, as executive architect.