Owned and developed by the city of Beverly Hills, this LEED Gold-certified office building is located in a burgeoning media office district. The four-story structure consists of 6,785 m2 of program including the city’s cable television studio and leasable space for office and retail. An existing adjacent parking garage has been connected with the new building and given a harmonizing new skin.
The overall design, incorporating materials including warm ochre cement panels, rust-colored painted sunscreens and glass, reflects the varied functions of the building. Floor-to-ceiling glass at ground level creates transparent spaces for restaurants and cafes, which can extend into outdoor gardens and landscaped public areas. Above, two floors of commercial lease space are topped by Beverly Hills’ city cable television facility on the fourth floor. In order to keep out natural light, the windowless TV studio has been clad in ventilated cement panels.
The facades of the building are enclosed by a glazed curtain-wall assembly with an external louver sunscreen system that acts as a veil, filtering exterior views and moderating sunlight.
The rooftop has an extensive array of photovoltaic cells including panels and thin-film technology. The drought-tolerant plantings soak up rainwater collected by a large catch-basin built into the landscaping, a sustainable strategy.
From the main entrance the linear lobby runs on an east-west axis across the site, connecting the street and sidewalk with the five-story parking structure. The garage has been wrapped in the same cement panels and sunscreen details as the main building, and softened at the street façade by metal screens planted with climbing vines.