5900 Wilshire

Los Angeles, CA

From high up in the 5900 Wilshire tower, you get the feeling you are in the very center of all that’s happening in LA. Its 360˚ views and the bold embrace of the newly designed LACMA point to the significance of this prominent tower and pavilion complex. The original 1968 Wiliam Pereira design set the building in pools with effusive fountains. While visually elegant, the result by today’s standards was more of an evaporative moat separating the buildings from the city. Our goal was to engage the street scene, provide more amenity for tenants, and address present-day accessibility, climate, and resource realities.

We’ve replaced lagoons and lawns with lower water use/higher-interest plantings arranged to echo the pools. Furnished breakout spaces allow for impromptu meetings in the warm LA sun.

Breaking away from the axial and rectilinear spatial geometries associated with the original elevated plaza, bridge, and stair sequence, the renovation’s sweeping curved forms create smooth transitions, mingling street life with office life.

Contrasting concrete bands tie the plaza to the spectacular lobby designed by Johnson Fain while also nodding to the linearity of the buildings and the iconic stretch of Wilshire Boulevard.

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