The constantly shifting face of American business presents a difficult landscape in which architects and interior designers must now work. While the A&D community certainly enjoys a challenge, its tasks are becoming more and more complex as microbusinesses, talent-hungry HR departments, all-inclusive corporate culture adjustments, and startups of innumerable varieties, jockey for attention.
These modern space users, including ones in emerging markets, are asking for spaces that cater closely to their industry-specific needs and personal life wants. It’s a strong (read: no-brainer) bet that amenity and culturally rich offices will continue to accompany our increasingly expansive urban landscapes.
Concepts such as the recently unveiled DesignHive in downtown Los Angeles promote a vertical campus mindset and provide a type of playground in which young businesses can grow and learn. This vertical campus idea is not just one option out of many equal choices; it’s critical to the future of our cities and city planning efforts that these spaces be adopted across all industry sectors and company sizes.
Commercial real estate company Brookfield Property Partners is introducing DesignHive, a collection of six dynamic office spaces designed by six leading L.A. design firms: Gensler, Rottet Studio, IA – Interior Architects, SAA, Wolcott, and Unispace. The incubator-like project is the result of a spec suite design competition Brookfield hosted to foster creative high-rise office design in downtown LA, an area that has struggled to attract young people and companies, both in the TAMI (technology, advertising, media and information) sectors, and in the more traditional industries of financial and legal.
“Downtown Los Angeles is Southern California’s next big tech and creative office space market. With the entire city at your fingertips, high rises in downtown offer a variety of appealing amenities such as proximity to public transit, open floor plans, ground floor public spaces and spectacular views.”
Each of the six 3,500-4,500 square feet DesignHive suites showcases a next generation work environment geared toward a specific industry or business type, including creative, tech, media, financial, legal and professional services. The office suites occupy two sites: the Wells Fargo Center South Tower located at 355 South Grand Avenue on Bunker Hill, and the Gas Company Tower at 555 West Fifth Street, near the historic core.
The spaces intend to serve as a catalyst and experiential idea generator for companies exploring progressive workplace solutions, and to provide a thriving vertical environment showcasing the customization that can be accomplished in high-rise buildings. DesignHive tenants will sign onto a move-in ready workplace that not only reflects the culture and sensibilities of their industry, but also resonates with clients and investors.
In the project press release Bert Dezzutti, executive VP, Western Region, U.S. Office Division, Brookfield Property Partners said, “Downtown Los Angeles is Southern California’s next big tech and creative office space market. With the entire city at your fingertips, high rises in downtown offer a variety of appealing amenities such as proximity to public transit, open floor plans, ground floor public spaces and spectacular views.”
The firms were encouraged to push boundaries in their designs, and the results are six distinctive spaces that could indeed help jumpstart six young L.A. companies.
Wolcott’s design, inspired by an up-and-coming women-owned entertainment law firm, focused on a hyper social element with completely open spaces accompanied by “focus rooms” (not offices). The team paid special mind to the Millennial personalities that are often much more social than other generations and are not as resentful of being plugged in.
“The notion of bringing creative-type clients downtown to the high-rises is something that needs to happen,” said Tim Gajewski, design director at Wolcott. “Brookfield did an excellent job of building this out and putting some skin in the game. Downtown high-rises here haven’t gotten much attention from those trendier industry categories, but the concept of a vertical campus seems really natural at this time.”
Below, we explore each of the six spaces, their inspirations and workspace solutions.
Designer: Unispace – Tech Office
>Suite 610, Building: The Gas Company Tower
Unispace’s Suite 610 is a space in which the tech industry’s top talent can unleash its creativity and do its best, most satisfying work. The mesh ceiling is a playful metaphor for the cloud and its transformational impact on the nature of the workplace. A laser system allows prospective tenants to instantly visualize, experience, and modify a multitude of furniture configurations.
Designer: Rottet – Fashion Media
>Suite 630, Building: The Gas Company Tower
RottetRottet Studio created a collaborative and creative workspace for a fashion media client, inspiring its fashion networking hub, a place of interdisciplinary connections and vision. An attempt to blend traditional corporate practices with modern hospitality-based ideas provides opportunity for a flexible environment through a variety of seating solutions and a minimal palette. Embracing transparency, this flexible environment encompasses the artistic, ever-changing downtown culture. The Frank Stella mural located just outside begged to become a layer of the design rather than a distraction, which inspired Rottet to partner with WRAPPED wall coverings to complement Stella’s piece. Several similar partnerships establish scope and detail in a highly curated workspace – one that can reflect the vibrant creativity of a new downtown LA.
Designer: Wolcott – Law Firm of the Future
>Suite 670, Building: The Gas Company Tower
Wolcott was given the challenge to design a professional space for Millennial and Gen Z employees who are used to working from anywhere. Wolcott created a workspace that offers varying environments for focus, education, wellbeing and collaboration. The aesthetic incorporates technology and amenities with a material pallet reflecting the global and multicultural influences that define Los Angeles.
Designer: Gensler – Law Firm of the Future
>Suite 1600, Building: Wells Fargo Center
GenslerGensler’s law firm of the future is designed with ultimate flexibility in mind for the evolving law practice industry. Implementing a universal office size and introducing open collaboration areas and workspaces, along with a concierge receptionist, are key features for the future law firm. The Gensler design solution illustrates how these program elements integrate seamlessly into the space function and aesthetic solution.
Designer: SAA – Boutique Trading and Investment Firm
>Suite 1605, Building: Wells Fargo Center
SAA’s project for a boutique trading and investment firm is a delicate balance of classical and minimalist design. The deep purple is a traditional color expressing wealth, and supporting aesthetic elements include a classically detailed conference room door, Italianate wallcoverings and stylized chandelier over the bar. The references to myth – the Goddess Fortuna as represented in art – set into a minimalist, abstract environment is a world of magic and commerce.
Designer: IA | Interior Architects – Technology/Consulting
>Suite 1675, Building: Wells Fargo Center
IA was tasked with creating a spec suite that would attract potential tenants from the technology/consulting sectors. IA’s Los Angeles design team delivered a contemporary workspace dominated by communal furniture zones to encourage a creative, flexible and collaborative environment. The suite was carefully designed and crafted to an actual $80/square feet budget so that it exemplifies a replicable space within the greater context of the building. In order to achieve this, the designer chose to limit hard walls, focusing instead on millwork elements and furniture to define the space.
