Work to convert the former Westside Pavilion Macy's department store in West Los Angeles to a mixed-use commercial campus recently completed. The development repurposes about 240,000 sf of shuttered retail space into an open, creative office campus with new commercial leasing opportunities.
“Adaptive reuse of the former Westside Pavilion Macy’s preserves an urban fabric that a generation of Angelenos associate with the memories of time spent with family and friends at the mall,” said Sejal Sonani, principal and managing director at HLW, which provided architecture, interior design, and landscape architecture services. “West End is also an impressive case study on repurposing underperforming and abandoned malls throughout the country.”
Located next to the former Westside Pavilion that was transformed into a 584,000 sf Google office campus, the development bolsters a new transit-oriented job center near the Westwood/Rancho Park Expo light rail station. The project included seismic upgrades, a glass curtain wall system, extensive landscaped courtyard areas, and a new 1,000-car parking structure.
While maintaining the architectural style and integrity of the existing structure, the design divided the building into two sections with a 52-foot-wide courtyard extending north to south to the parking structure, adding open lobbies and generous balconies to connect the two halves, and creating a seamless indoor-outdoor connection. The ground plane was pushed down one level below the street, creating a light-filled courtyard at the lower plaza level. The building’s façade, previously sealed to the exterior, was retrofitted with floor-to-ceiling glass furthering the visual connection between the interiors and the property’s surroundings.
“Boasting an abundance of outdoor space, better integration of the building into the urban fabric, and adding to the pedestrian-friendly character of the rapidly changing neighborhood, West End has been transformed and blended into the infrastructure of Greater Los Angeles, incorporating wellness and biophilic design elements into the site for the first time in its history,” the release says. “Once leased, West End's new tenant(s) will enjoy a proximity to places to work, shop, and dine, as well as the adjacent Google campus.”
On the building team:
Owner and/or developer: GPI Companies
Design architect: HLW
Architect of record: HLW
MEP engineer: AMA Consulting Engineers
Structural engineer: Saiful Bouquet
General contractor/construction manager: Del Amo Construction
Related Stories
| Aug 11, 2010
Outdated office tower becomes Nashville’s newest boutique hotel
A 1960s office tower in Nashville, Tenn., has been converted into a 248-room, four-star boutique hotel. Designed by Earl Swensson Associates, with PowerStrip Studio as interior designer, the newly converted Hutton Hotel features 54 suites, two penthouse apartments, 13,600 sf of meeting space, and seven “cardio” rooms.
| Aug 11, 2010
Arup, SOM top BD+C's ranking of the country's largest mixed-use design firms
A ranking of the Top 75 Mixed-Use Design Firms based on Building Design+Construction's 2009 Giants 300 survey. For more Giants 300 rankings, visit http://www.BDCnetwork.com/Giants
| Aug 11, 2010
10% of world's skyscraper construction on hold
Emporis, the largest provider of global building data worldwide, reported that 8.7% of all skyscrapers listed as "under construction" in its database had been put on hold. Most of these projects have been halted in the second half of 2008. According to Emporis statistics, the United States had been hit the worst: at the beginning of 2008, "Met 3" in Miami was the only U.S. skyscraper listed as being "on hold". In the second half of the year, 19 projects followed suit.
| Aug 11, 2010
Structure Tone, Turner among the nation's busiest reconstruction contractors, according to BD+C's Giants 300 report
A ranking of the Top 75 Reconstruction Contractors based on Building Design+Construction's 2009 Giants 300 survey. For more Giants 300 rankings, visit http://www.BDCnetwork.com/Giants
| Aug 11, 2010
Portland Cement Association offers blast resistant design guide for reinforced concrete structures
Developed for designers and engineers, "Blast Resistant Design Guide for Reinforced Concrete Structures" provides a practical treatment of the design of cast-in-place reinforced concrete structures to resist the effects of blast loads. It explains the principles of blast-resistant design, and how to determine the kind and degree of resistance a structure needs as well as how to specify the required materials and details.
| Aug 11, 2010
New website highlights government tax incentives for large commercial buildings
Energy Retrofit Group (ERG), the subsidiary of 40-year-old, award-winning Adache Group Architects, Inc., has announced the creation of their new energy conservation web site: www.energy-rg.com.
| Aug 11, 2010
Gensler, HOK, HDR among the nation's leading reconstruction design firms, according to BD+C's Giants 300 report
A ranking of the Top 100 Reconstruction Design Firms based on Building Design+Construction's 2009 Giants 300 survey. For more Giants 300 rankings, visit http://www.BDCnetwork.com/Giants
