Go into the Void in this Tech Office by BA Collective

2023 Best of Year Winner for Large Tech Office

Fresh air, sunshine, and an exterior program were among directives for the 37,000-square-foot development in Los Angeles by Hall of Famer Hagy Belzberg’s studio that caters to tech and creative industries. The challenge was its massive, cubelike proportions. The solution was off-centered voids and a shared central courtyard dividing two double-height blocks of office space, all of which has access to outdoors through terraces and a side yard. Stylistically, curves abound, as seen in the fluidity of the spiraling central staircase. In the lobby, there’s room to hang 21 bicycles on wall racks hidden between fins of white oak, each mechanism mounted at a slightly different height from its neighbor to create a subtle wave effect.

hagy belzberg; barry gartin; kristofer leese; chris arntzen; elizabeth pyatt; glen ginter; andrea cadioli; shen li; minah kim.

An Apartment-Style Hotel by Belzberg Architects Sails into Mexico City

2022 Best of Year Winner for Boutique Hotel

Mexico City’s Roma Norte neighborhood possesses an eclectic mix of early-1900’s buildings in styles ranging from neoclassical to art nouveau. Now a decidedly modernist structure has sailed onto the scene: Xoma, an apartment-style hotel by Belzberg Architects that calls to mind a ship with the wind at its back, thanks to perforated screens that appear to billow from the seven-story structure. The property is the latest in a series of buildings with sculptural facade treatments that the Los Angeles firm founded by Interior Design Hall of Fame member Hagy Belzberg has designed in CDMX. Elsewhere, he and his team conjured up facades in aluminum strips or perforated carbon steel.

For Xoma, a collaboration with developer Grupo Anima, they turned to more traditional masonry. Concrete blocks, handcrafted with central openings, were fabricated on-site and connected by integrated C-shape steel plates. The permeable membranes, tapered at the street level, expand as they rise.

Sweeping forms appear on the interior, too. In the lobby, asymmetrical plaster ceilings arch over a brass-plated reception desk and floors of veined Tunisian marble. Arrayed around a central atrium, the 14 guest suites—one- and two-bedrooms with full kitchens—lead onto balconies partially enclosed by the facade screen, which provides privacy while allowing fresh air to circulate and natural light to filter in.

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belzberg architects: hagy belzberg; brock desmit; jennifer wu; jessica hong; josh hanley; david cheung; adrian cortez; mingyue hu; kris leese; aaron leshtz; corie saxman; filipa lima valente; katelyn miersma; melissa yip

A 1920s Home That Doubles as a Work of Art

For a 1920s home with high ceilings and garden views, designer Alison Damonte did not hold back. With input from the homeowners, a couple with two young children, a strong dialog between color and geometry quickly emerged. “They are very drawn to bold, saturated colors, minimalism, and the Colorfield art movement,” shares Damonte. “As such, we treated the project like a modern piece of art in the style of Ellsworth Kelly or Spencer Finch—both artists collected by the client.”

The historic home, updated by Malcolm Davis Architecture about 10 years ago, presented a unique framework within which to work, which Damonte leaned into with her design. “The whole project speaks to the element of surprise,” she continues. “The facade is classic 1920s but when you walk through the front door the interiors and the furnishings are unexpected. The clients have a fearless sensibility.”

As collectors of abstract art, the homeowners were drawn to colorful, statement-making furnishings. International Klein Blue, a hue first mixed by artist Yves Klein, serves as a uniting theme throughout, making appearances in furnishings, upholstery, drapes, and accessories. There’s also a clear connection to the outdoors with plenty of natural light. The living room opens to the yard, offering access to the pool and nearby pool house, outfitted with furnishings and fabrics made to withstand the elements.

With works by Banksy, Erin O’Keefe and Spencer Finch on display, neutral colored walls create a gallerylike backdrop, enabling each piece to pop. As for furnishings and accents, many were custom designed, nodding to the artists in the client’s home collection. From rainbow stairs to shapely seating, the home invites a sense of play, nurturing creativity from the ground up.

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ZGF Designs a New Center for Mental Health at University of California, San Francisco

2022 Best of Year Winner for Healthcare

For centuries, architecture has reinforced the stigma of mental illness. Dreary treatment facilities with sterile interiors and small windows can look more like prisons than hospitals. This bright, 173,000-square-foot research and treatment center—home to UCSF’s Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences—by ZGF turns the institutional typology on its head. With large windows and white-oak floors, the biophilic design reflects the fact that access to daylight and nature shortens hospital stays and improves patient outcomes. The building also aims to promote transparency and normalize mental healthcare, encouraging more people to seek help. “The space is meant to signal to patients that they are safe, they are welcome, and that they matter,” associate principal Mirjana Munetic says.

Visitors enter into a five-story atrium that draws the eye up to the skylight, where painted metal baffles filter daylight to the ground floor. The walkways around the atrium have 6-foot-high glass guardrails that enhance the sense of openness while also providing protection for patients. Waiting rooms, traditionally hidden, are adjacent to the atrium, sending a message that behavioral health patients should be visible. With a rooftop garden and an extensive art program—including landscape photographs by Richard Misrach—the resulting environment is calm, with a sense of hope.

Super Bowl LVI Will Kick Off in the Super SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles by HKS

It’s Super Bowl time, that annual celebration of excellence by athletes and performers at the top of their game. This year’s face-off between the Los Angeles Rams and Cincinnati Bengals, with Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Mary J. Blige, and Kendrick Lamar taking center field at half-time, brings a slew of superlatives tied to the Inglewood, Los Angeles, site. Debuting September 2020 following six years of design and construction, SoFi stadium stands as the centerpiece of a massive 300-acre mixed-use parcel for sports, entertainment, retail, commercial, and residential developed by Rams owner E. Stanley Kroenke. The site, incidentally twice the size of Vatican City, occupies the former Hollywood Park racetrack. Ergo the project’s aptly shortened name, Hollywood Park. Phase one completion encompasses not only the 70,000-seat stadium, but two additional venues, all under one swooping roof. The YouTube Theater has 6,000 seats; the American Airlines Plaza stands between them. Surrounding it all are 25 acres of public parks and open space, a draw for locals and visitors alike. HKS is taking charge of the entire project, Studio-MLA the landscaping. 

“Two themes drove the design concept,” begins Mark Williams, HKS global director and principal, who led the project with Lance Evans, principal and director of sports. “One, it would be a living room for the city of Inglewood. Two, it be a global stage to host mega events visible to the world.”  Another design driver, he adds, “was creating an authentic Los Angeles, a mega indoor-outdoor experience amidst the entertainment capital of the world.” Ergo, the open-air solution for the NFL’s largest stadium, clocking in at 3.1 million square feet.

Proximity to Los Angeles International Airport mandates seating to be 100 feet below grade, a factor translating to some 7 million cubic yards of dirt excavated, according to HKS. Thus, notes Evans, “procession is a set of meandering paths” showcasing plant ecologies indicative of southern California. Actual ingress points, called “canyon entries,” slope down to provide immediate visuals straight to the field and its 70,000-square-foot, double-sided Samsung video board, allegedly the largest in sports. Inside, the 8-level stadium is awash with daylight, while evenings hold other potential attributes of their own. Which brings us to that roof canopy.

Its structural steel shell, compression ring, and cable net system are capped by a roof of ETFE, a lightweight translucent plastic formed in triangular panels over a perforated aluminum shell. They number 309, 46 of them operable to release hot air for optimal ventilation. Additionally, a complex feat of lighting and engineering allows content, think games and nighttime concerts like the Rolling Stones, to be projected skyward on the roof. Could there be a more spectacular introduction to the City of Angels as seen from the runway approach to LAX? 

What’s a high caliber game or music experience without its food and beverage component plus a sense of luxury? SoFi takes cues from hospitality “with amenities unique to stadium design,” notes Amanda Trimble, HKS vice president of sports and entertainment. “We designed every concession, distributed throughout, differently,” adds senior designer Katy Cagle: That includes working with local chefs. Meanwhile, the stadium boasts 12 clubs; Champagne, whiskey, and tequila bars; and premier seating in seven suite types, in turn divisible through cascading draperies. 

So, SoFi kicks off a welcome its home team. Come 2028, it will welcome the Olympics, too.