flexiblefullpage -
billboard - default
interstitial1 - interstitial
catfish1 - bottom
Currently Reading

In Southern California, a former industrial zone continues to revitalize with an award-winning office property

Office Buildings

In Southern California, a former industrial zone continues to revitalize with an award-winning office property

The three-floor building offers about 25,000 sf of office and amenity spaces, as well as a variety of sustainable and energy-efficient components.


By Novid Parsi, Contributing Editor | May 4, 2023
In Southern California, a former industrial zone continues to revitalize with an award-winning office property. Photo: Patrick Tang, Take Flyt Imaging
Photo: Patrick Tang, Take Flyt Imaging

In Culver City, Calif., Del Amo Construction, a construction company based in Southern California, has completed the adaptive reuse of 3516 Schaefer St, a new office property. 3516 Schaefer is located in Culver City’s redeveloped Hayden Tract neighborhood, a former industrial zone that has become a technology and corporate hub. In March, Los Angeles Business Journal gave 3516 Schaefer St the top Gold award in the commercial office category.

Owned by Redcar Ltd. and designed by RAC Design Build, with contract administration services from Formation Association, the three-floor property consists of about 25,000 sf of office and amenity spaces. In addition to 18-foot-high floors, the building’s features include a mix of open-floor work areas and conference rooms, a second-floor break room with kitchen space, a third-floor mezzanine area, private patios, outdoor decks on all floors, and a secured parking lot.

Originally, the project site included an existing single-story building that Del Amo Construction removed, as well as a crane-rail steel structure that was modified and incorporated into the new building. The new space, which is adjacent to Redcar’s two-story 3520 Schaefer St, provides an airy, low-rise structure with indoor-outdoor features, a sloping roof line, and an exterior of metal, glass, concrete, and wood.

3516 Schaefer St’s sustainable and energy-efficient components include custom steel windows and doors fabricated to allow for fresh air and ventilation, roof solar panels with a fully integrated photovoltaic system, variable refrigerant flow (VFR) HVAC, EnergyStar appliances, programmable Lutron lighting, three fully operational EV charging stations with eight additional pre-installed locations, bicycle parking, a stormwater capturing drywell system, and drought-tolerant landscaping.

On the Building Team:
Owner/developer: Redcar Ltd.
Design architect and architect of record: RAC Design Build
MEP engineer: AMA Consulting Engineering
Structural engineer: Glotman Simpson
General contractor: Del Amo Construction

In Southern California, a former industrial zone continues to revitalize with an award-winning office property Photo: Patrick Tang, Take Flyt Imaging
Photo: Patrick Tang, Take Flyt Imaging
3516 Schaefer St adaptive reuse 8B2A3940
Photo: Patrick Tang, Take Flyt Imaging
3516 Schaefer St adaptive reuse 8B2A4000
Photo: Patrick Tang, Take Flyt Imaging
3516 Schaefer St adaptive reuse 8B2A3912
Photo: Patrick Tang, Take Flyt Imaging

Related Stories

Giants 400 | Nov 6, 2023

Top 170 Government Building Architecture Firms for 2023

Page Southerland Page, Gensler, Stantec, HOK, and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill top BD+C's ranking of the nation's largest government building sector architecture and architecture engineering (AE) firms for 2023, as reported in the 2023 Giants 400 Report. Note: This ranking includes revenue from all government building sectors, including federal, state, local, military, and Veterans Affairs (VA) buildings.

Office Buildings | Nov 2, 2023

Amazon’s second headquarters completes its first buildings: a pair of 22-story towers

Amazon has completed construction of the first two buildings of its second headquarters, located in Arlington, Va. The all-electric structures, featuring low carbon concrete and mass timber, help further the company’s commitment to achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2040 and 100% renewable energy consumption by 2030. Designed by ZGF Architects, the two 22-story buildings are on track to become the largest LEED v4 Platinum buildings in the U.S.

Adaptive Reuse | Nov 1, 2023

Biden Administration reveals plan to spur more office-to-residential conversions

The Biden Administration recently announced plans to encourage more office buildings to be converted to residential use. The plan includes using federal money to lend to developers for conversion projects and selling government property that is suitable for conversions. 

Office Buildings | Oct 30, 2023

Find Your 30: Creating a unique sense of place in the workplace while emphasizing brand identity

Finding Your 30 gives each office a sense of autonomy, and it allows for bigger and broader concepts that emphasize distinctive cultural, historic or other similar attributes.

Biophilic Design | Oct 29, 2023

Natural wood floors create biophilic experience in Austrian headquarters office

100% environmentally friendly natural wood floors from mafi add to the biophilic setting of a beverage company office in Upper Austria.

Government Buildings | Oct 27, 2023

A spurt in public spending bolsters AEC firms' government building practices

Nonresidential public construction spending, while only about a quarter of private-sector spending, has been growing at a much faster clip lately. In June, it was up 13.8% to $411.4 billion, with commercial and manufacturing the biggest subsectors, according to Commerce Department estimates.

Office Buildings | Oct 19, 2023

Proportion of workforce based at home drops to lowest level since pandemic began

The proportion of the U.S. workforce working remotely has dropped considerably since the start of the Covid 19 pandemic, but office vacancy rates continue to rise. Fewer than 26% of households have someone who worked remotely at least one day a week, down sharply from 39% in early 2021, according to the latest Census Bureau Household Pulse Surveys. 

Biophilic Design | Oct 18, 2023

6 ways to integrate nature into the workplace

Integrating nature into the workplace is critical to the well-being of employees, teams and organizations. Yet despite its many benefits, incorporating nature in the built environment remains a challenge.

Office Buildings | Oct 16, 2023

The impact of office-to-residential conversion on downtown areas

Gensler's Duanne Render looks at the incentives that could bring more office-to-residential conversions to life.

Government Buildings | Oct 10, 2023

GSA names Elliot Doomes Public Buildings Service Commissioner

The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) announced that the agency’s Public Buildings Service Commissioner Nina Albert will depart on Oct. 13 and that Elliot Doomes will succeed her.

boombox1 - default
boombox2 -
native1 -

More In Category


Laboratories

The Department of Energy breaks ground on the Princeton Plasma Innovation Center

In Princeton, N.J., the U.S. Department of Energy’s Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) has broken ground on the Princeton Plasma Innovation Center (PPIC), a state-of-the-art office and laboratory building. Designed and constructed by SmithGroup, the $109.7 million facility will provide space for research supporting PPPL’s expanded mission into microelectronics, quantum sensors and devices, and sustainability sciences. 



halfpage1 -

Most Popular Content

  1. 2021 Giants 400 Report
  2. Top 150 Architecture Firms for 2019
  3. 13 projects that represent the future of affordable housing
  4. Sagrada Familia completion date pushed back due to coronavirus
  5. Top 160 Architecture Firms 2021