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BURBANK,CA

IATSE - Local 728

BEFORE

The I.A.T.S.E. Local 728, or Studio Electrical Lighting Technicians purchased a 5,000 square foot building that was originally designed for the Red Cross in the early 1960’s. The existing building was designed in pseudo Prairie Style Architecture having low horizontal lines and a somewhat residential style hipped roof. Our clients requested that we reinforce the existing Prairie Architecture and incorporate energy efficient building components into the design. The design incorporates: natural day lighting through skylights and a rain wall system; photovoltaic panels; high efficiency HVAC equipment; dual gazing and enhanced building envelope insulation.

GLENDALE, CA

California Nurses Association

A 14,000 SF Interior improvement which encompassed an entire floor and was designed such that the primary interior spaces took advantage of mountain views. The program for California Nurses Association included a seventy person Meeting Room which was located on one end of the Elevator Lobby, opposite of their receptionist, which allows for visitors to circulate directly from the Lobby into the Meeting Room without having to circulate through California Nurses space. California Nurses red accent color was utilized throughout the public portion of the space and more subtle colors were used in the work areas.

BURBANK,CA

IATSE - Local 80

BEFORE

The existing building was designed in the 1960’s for Billy Graham, who produced his televangelist show on site. Accordingly, the program consisted of a film stage, stage support area, concrete film vaults (for storage of nitrate based film), screening, projection and editing rooms on the first and second floors and an apartment on the third floor where Mr. Graham lived while in town.

Several years ago the Grips Local 80 union purchased the building and occupied all three floors as is. However, the existing layout wasn’t efficient for their use and most of the interior spaces lacked natural light, as there wasn’t much of a need for windows in the building’s previous use, with exception of the existing entry where the building had vertical windows in the way of a halfhearted gesture towards Gothic Architecture.

A financial plan was put into place that consolidated the Grips on the Second Floor, freeing up the Ground Level and Third floor as lease space that would subsidize the improvements made to the building. A credit union and gourmet coffee shop (now under construction) leased the Ground Level and the Stage is leased to local studios for filming. Both the credit union and Grips program called for relocating the existing entry away from the main street to the side of the building off the parking lot. For the credit union it was a security issue, while for the Grips, it was convenience. From an Architectural standpoint this meant contending with the opening left by the existing faux two-story entry and defining a new entry from the parking lot.

 

We adapted our design vocabulary to elements that were familiar to the Local Grips members, such as: cables, clamps, screens, dolly rails, stage lighting, speed rail and various rigging components. This approach worked well on exterior elements, such as the new entry canopy and sunshades that fell under the General Contractor’s scope of work, however we encountered a surprise when it came to some of the interior furniture that we designed which was to be built by the Grips members. The Grips had a culture that we didn’t originally pick up on that evolved out of their work in the movie industry, which poses problems for them to find their own solutions to. Accordingly the members have become accustomed to not following plans or a prescribed direction. While in the process of designing their Board Room and Conference tables, the grips members took our drawings and adopted an attitude of “you’ll see what it looks like when we’re done building it”. So while the Board Room and Conference tables along with some of the interior lighting may look somewhat like our drawings, there were some random changes to how the furniture was detailed or in most cases, clamped together. Though overall, we enjoyed the collaborative process with our clients while designing their furniture and ended up being happier with the end result than had we specified furniture from the usual manufacturers.

The Animation Guild

BURBANK,CA

The design of the project contends with the renovation of not one but five buildings that evolved in the way of repeated additions. The expressed an interest to modernize and unify the existing buildings in a design vocabulary rooted in California Architecture, namely Rudolph Schindler’s work. Controlled natural lighting was explored for the Guild’s studio spaces utilizing north facing clerestory windows. A digital screen was proposed at the outside of the building to expose the Guild’s work to the general public. 

IATSE WEST COAST/

2210 OLIVE AVE

LOS ANGELES, CA  

BEFORE

The renovation of existing 25,000 SF office building to incorporate Office Space for IATSE West Coast Headquarters.

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