Unite Here Health Office, Los Angeles Building Renovation, Architect, Project Images

Unite Here Health Office in Los Angeles

Refurbished Work Space Interiors L.A. design by Lehrer Architects, USA

Oct 10, 2016

Unite Here Health Office

Design: Lehrer Architects

Location: Echo Park, Los Angeles, California, USA

Unite Here Health Office in Los Angeles

Unite Here Health Office

The design challenge for this healthcare office was updating an aging, dank, disconnected 1960s facility, re-energizing a business’ culture and espirit d’corps.

Unite Here Health Office

A dark, disconnected interior is transformed into a vibrant, naturally lit work environment that honors the bones of an existing mid-century building, anchoring it in the city by revealing views to Downtown Los Angeles to the east and Hollywood Hills to the west.

Unite Here Health Office

The solution was to leverage the architecture’s excellent 1960s Modernist bones and proportions, revealing its inherent openness for the first time in its existence.

Unite Here Health Office

The top floor is connected to the adjacent parking, the street below, the City beyond and the sky above. Removed spandrels reveal the openness of the original storefront walls, bringing in light and view. Color and light defines and delineates spaces in an open working environment.

Unite Here Health Office Unite Here Health Office

A new connective architectural zone garbed in yellow celebrates arrival and movement through the heart of the facility. From the westerly side a new two-story, street-facing stairwell and its perforated metal stair connect the top floor to this important city street and program below.

Unite Here Health Office

The stair frames the westerly views of the City and Hollywood Hills and filters afternoon light. At the easterly side a new social deck frames robust views to the adjacent neighborhood and downtown LA skyline beyond. New skylights and glass walls pour massive natural light onto many white surfaces minimizing need for artificial lighting.  Acoustical “confetti” baffles dance throughout the open office ceiling and provide visual continuity and noise attenuation.

Unite Here Health Office

Sustainability objectives are achieved with new skylights which transform previously artificially lit, dreary spaces into an energetic light-filled work environment. Diffused skylights provide an even spread of natural light to all corners of the open office reducing dependency on overhead lighting during the day. Predominant use of white surfaces on the floor, tabletops, and newly exposed ceilings maximize the bounce and spread of light that enters the space.

Unite Here Health Office

Large new openings are created on both sides of the building to allow ample natural light into the lobby and allow views to Downtown Los Angeles and Hollywood Hills. From the westerly side old spandrel panels are replaced with low-e glazing at the new double-height entry stair and lobby. At the easterly side an old CMU infill wall is replaced by a new storefront with low-e glazing looking onto the new deck at the office parking.

Unite Here Health Office Unite Here Health Office

Unite Here Health Office in Los Angeles – Building Information

Location:
Echo Park, Los Angeles, California

Square footage:
28,000 square feet total
16,000 square foot interior renovation

Summary:
In this “interior” project, Lehrer Architects designs a vibrant, naturally lit work environment that honors the bones of an existing mid-century building and anchors it in the City by revealing views to downtown Los Angeles to the east and Hollywood Hills to the west.

Design Challenge:
• Update an aging facility, reconfigure and connect the 2nd floor to the street without disrupting the fully operational day-to-day client needs of the tenants below.
• Seamlessly integrate several tenants with very different programmatic needs.
• Accommodate many programmatic, security, acoustical and access requirements.

Design Relevance:
• Connect the previously dark and disconnected 2nd floor interior to the City by revealing spectacular views and providing a vertical connection with significant presence on the street.
• Use of natural light and color to define and delineate spaces in an open working environment.
• Design a variety of private and public light-filled spaces for working, teaching, training and serving clientele.

Design Details:
• Yellow, perforated metal stair anchors the second floor on this important city street and provides much needed physical connection to the program below; its color defines the procession through public portions of the building; the stair frames the views of the Hollywood Hills and filters the afternoon light.
• Glass walls of perimeter meeting rooms allow natural light to penetrate deep into the floor plate of the building;
• Diffused glass skylights spread the natural light against many white surfaces minimizing the need for artificial lighting.
• Acoustical confetti blades dance throughout the open office ceiling and provide visual continuity and noise attenuation.
• Color defines and shapes space …..
• Strong horizontal datum at the working height enhances the proportion and bones of the existing mid-century building.
• Contract benching workstations provide generous work surfaces which transition from desks, collaboration surfaces to tables needed for working with guests/participants.
• The durable and vibrant epoxy floor bounces light around and is highlighted by continuous stripes which move seamlessly throughout the spaces
• Floor finishes provide continuity between spaces even as the materials transition
• Built-in flexibility and continuity between working/training/learning spaces is obtained through use of a range of transparent/collapsible walls.

Design Team:
Architect: Lehrer Architects
Client: Unite Here Health

Contractor: Turelk, Inc.

Timeframe:
January 2015: Project Completed
August 2014: Construction Starts
March 2014: Design Work begins
January 2013 – February 2014: Consultation and Design Concepts

Unite Here Health Office

Unite Here Health Office

Credit for Images: Lehrer Architects

Unite Here Health Office in Los Angeles information / images received 101016

Lehrer Architects on e-architect

Location: Echo Park, Los Angeles, Southern California, United States of America

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