Discovery building
SANTA MONICA HIGHSCHOOL
LOCATION: 601 Pico Blvd, Santa Monica, CA 90405
CLIENT: Santa Monica Highschool
TYPE: Education
MY RESPONSIBILITIES: BIM Management, element and family modeling, drawing set up, drawing management, staff training, model health and cleanup
Design (description provided by HED)
HED, in collaboration with Moore Ruble Yudell Architects & Planners, designed a dramatic new academic complex that transforms Santa Monica High School’s (SAMOHI’s) North Campus. Benefitting both school and the surrounding community, the complex elevates educational, cultural and recreational pursuits; improves campus access and circulation; and supports whole child development and diverse learning styles.
From arts and athletic facilities to larger, light-filled classrooms, enhanced support spaces to reorganized outdoor spaces, the five-story, 280,000 square foot complex fosters social interactions and strengthens the sense of community on SAMOHI’s campus.
Wrapped around an open entry courtyard, this innovative structure is designed as an “open building,” with a flexible, open-column grid, raised floor and non-load bearing walls which can be reconfigured over time. Sustainable as well as flexible, the new complex features displacement ventilation, photovoltaic and solar thermal arrays and a two-story living green wall.
Redefining traditional classrooms and taking full advantage of the California climate, large shade trees and landscape rooms also serve as teaching, dining and gathering spaces. Outdoor classrooms—including a rooftop hydroponic garden and science classroom—connect students with the natural world, supporting experiential, hands-on learning.
Interior classrooms are organized around common spaces, building on this sense of belonging, identity and interconnectivity. Supporting diverse teaching and learning styles in the present, the classrooms easily adapt to evolving pedagogical approaches and uses, thanks to the structure’s flexible, innovative open building concept and operable glass walls.
Additional features include a publicly accessible 50-meter pool, a central kitchen and dining facility, medically fragile suite and labs and parking. A maker space and career tech labs support SAMOHI’s “Project Lead the Way” program.
Replacing the existing science and technology buildings, the new complex joins the recently completed Innovation Building in transforming the SAMOHI campus, serving the school community and surrounding region—flexibly and sustainably—for years to come.
century plaza towers
LOCATION: 2029 Century Park, Los Angeles, CA 90067
CLIENT: Next Century Partners
TYPES: Housing, Mixed Use
MY RESPONSIBILITIES: Model setup, BIM Management, element and family modeling, drawing set up, drawing management, staff training, model health and cleanup
Design (description provided by HED)
HED served as Executive Architect for the new Century Plaza Towers. Designed by acclaimed New York architectural firm Pei Cobb Freed & Partners, the two 44-story, triangular glass towers flank the historic Century Park Plaza Hotel’s west elevation, and contains 290 luxury condominiums, including multi-floor penthouses. HED also acted as Executive Architect in the conversion of the top five floors of the 1966 hotel into condo units.
The completed $850 million projects are a major component of a larger $2.5 billion renovation and expansion centered around the original Minoru Yamasaki-designed hotel. The full completed project includes the conversion of the hotel into high-end suites, residential condominiums, restaurants, and retail space. Extensive landscaping connects the new mixed-use development with the burgeoning Century City business district.
CIRCA TOWERS
LOCATION: 1200 S Figueroa St, Los Angeles, CA 90015
TYPE: Residential
MY RESPONSIBILITIES: BIM Management, element and family modeling, drawing management, staff training, model health and cleanup
Design (description provided by HED)
Located at the corner of Figueroa and 12th Street, CIRCA marks the convergence of recreation, residential and retail, tying together the South Park and Sports and Entertainment districts in the heart of downtown LA. Steps from the STAPLES Center, LA Live and the Los Angeles Convention Center, the two thirty-five story towers electrify the LA skyline with a dramatic 27,000 square foot display of LED digital signage—larger than any featured in NYC’s famed Times Square.
But the real showstopper? Attention-grabbing amenities that entice renters even in a market where luxury is business as usual. A two-acre park connects the two towers 90 feet above street level, and features wading and lap pools, dog parks, outdoor fitness and lounge areas and communal fire pits. Elegant interior spaces—from a library and wine bar to clubhouse, business center and dedicated yoga and Pilates rooms—epitomize California chic, taking full advantage of the region’s climate by leveraging indoor/outdoor connections.
While CIRCA’s opulent amenities may have residents’ heads in the clouds, the building itself is closely connected to its surroundings. The curvilinear design of the two towers not only make use of every available square foot of its 2.7-acre lot, but also reference the surrounding architecture. The towers’ offset construction, unique curved design and sleek glass exteriors maximize stunning vistas of the San Gabriel Mountains, Hollywood Hills and downtown skyline, with select units providing continuous 180-degree views. At ground level, high-end retailers and restaurants engage the broader public and further activate the street.
The development achieves a uniquely urban synergy of recreation and residential, establishing a magnetic, dynamic atmosphere that rivals Times Square—and creates an iconic new southern boundary for downtown Los Angeles.
metropolis towers
LOCATION: 877 Francisco St, Los Angeles, CA 90017
CLIENT: Greenland USA
TYPE: Residential, Mixed Use
MY RESPONSIBILITIES: BIM Management, element and family modeling, drawing management, interoperability, staff training, model health and cleanup
Design (description provided by HED)
Metropolis is Greenland USA’s first large-scale mixed-use project in downtown Los Angeles. Located on a 6.3-acre site adjacent to the 110 Freeway, this multi-phase project includes three high-rise residential towers and an 18-story hotel. For Phase I, HED served as Interior Executive Architect for the 38-story high-rise residential tower that included 310 residential units, an amenity deck over a five level podium parking structure, clubhouse, resort-style pool, cabanas, fitness areas, meditation garden, and dog park. In the following Phase II, HED served as Executive Architect. This phase included two luxury high-rise condominium towers of 40- and 56-stories, which featured 1,200 residential units, a 1.5-acre amenity deck, 60,000 square feet of retail, an eight-level above-grade parking structure, and two subterranean parking levels for a total of 1,800 cars.