Architecture

The Heldman Center is envisioned as a space that fosters social interaction and intellectual engagement, offering students a range of environments where they can build community, collaborate on projects, and participate in cultural events. The new 72,867 SF, four-level Heldman Center at West Los Angeles College (WLAC) is designed to integrate with the existing Student Services Center, forming a cohesive pair focused on advancing student success. Serving as an inclusive campus hub, the Heldman Center will centralize essential student services and academic resources, address universal accessibility, and provide spaces for social interaction and academic engagement. The facility will house the campus library, student union, student learning center, administrative offices, and an event center, while connecting Wildcat Walk to the Student Services Center.

The Heldman Center is conceived as an engaging facility that reflects the vibrancy of WLAC’s campus community. Its design supports education, inspiration, and meaningful connections among students, faculty, and visitors. By integrating a universally accessible route, the Center enhances campus circulation and ensures equitable access. This solution is part of the current development phase. The Center’s adaptable layout accommodates evolving student needs and fosters community through flexible study, educational spaces, comprehensive student services, and an event center that highlights the campus landscape.

Site Context
The project is located in Santa Monica’s Sunset Park neighborhood, a walkable residential area characterized by proximity to parks, schools, neighborhood-serving retail, and a range of housing types. The neighborhood balances a calm residential character with convenient access to transit and commercial activity along Ocean Park Boulevard. The City’s planned conversion of the approximately 192-acre Santa Monica Airport site into a future “Great Park” positions the area as an evolving recreational and civic destination. The project site is well situated to support future pedestrian and neighborhood connectivity associated with this transformation. Immediately west of the site, Clover Park provides established recreational amenities and open space. The project acknowledges this adjacency through building orientation, landscape design, and pedestrian connections that reinforce neighborhood access to open space while respecting surrounding residential development.

Design Intent
The proposed mixed-use development introduces additional mixed-income housing while maintaining compatibility with neighborhood scale and character. The design responds to two contextual conditions: the more urban frontage along Ocean Park Boulevard and 28th Street, and the park-oriented residential edge adjacent to Clover Park. Active ground-floor uses, transparent storefronts, clearly defined residential entries, and enhanced sidewalks support a pedestrian-oriented public realm. A connection from 28th Street toward Clover Park strengthens walkability and neighborhood connectivity, providing access to ground-level stoop units with additional landscaping to create a residentially scaled park interface.

Massing and Neighborhood Compatibility
Building massing reflects the scale and rhythm of Sunset Park while expressing a contemporary architectural identity. Upper-level setbacks above the third story reduce perceived height along all frontages, with additional step-backs facing Ocean Park Boulevard further softening the building profile and transition to the lower scale adjacent context. Articulated massing, generous landscaped courtyards, and pedestrian pathways introduce light, air, and visual permeability while improving circulation between the street, residences, and adjacent park areas.

Architectural Character and Public Realm
The building is designed as a four-sided composition that reinforces an active streetscape. Parking is screened by residential or commercial uses to maintain pedestrian continuity. Neighborhood-serving retail at the Ocean Park Boulevard and 28th Street corner establishes a gateway presence. Podium and rooftop open spaces provide shared amenities oriented toward sunlight and views, and all residences include private outdoor space and access to natural light and ventilation taking advantage of Santa Monica’s coastal climate.

Located within the town of Sausalito, this development’s architecture is informed by the town’s established scale, working waterfront heritage, and utilitarian architectural language. 1 Harbor Drive features 294 units—13 of which are affordable housing for very low-, low-, and moderate-income households. The project features 25,000 SF of open space, reflecting Sausalito’s organic connection to the outdoors, and bicycle racks to accomodate 80 bicycles.

The connection to the bay and its small scale floating houses along the water provided a unique opportunity to create architectural typologies that resonate with material use, color, and scale. The massing is broken down into a series of smaller volumes, each referencing the defining qualities of the neighborhood’s prevalent building typologies, resulting in a composition that is both cohesive and contextually responsive.

This project is one of Sausalito’s biggest residential complexes, aimed at satisfying the town’s state-mandated housing requirements for the planning of 724 units by 2031. It is a direct implementation of Measure J, where Sausalito voters allowed taller and denser buildings within the downtown area. 1 Harbor Drive ultimately will deliver meaningful new housing to the area, without displacing industrial or maritime uses in the Marinship.

AC Martin designed the 9,000 SF MLK Youth Center as a place of refuge, dignity, and connection for the youth it serves. The Center is a supportive facility intended to provide youth transitioning out of the foster care system with healthcare, counseling, and daily living services in a safe, inclusive environment. Natural light, mass timber, soft materials, and open visibility foster an atmosphere that is not only warm and deeply human, but intentionally non-institutional. The design encourages comfort, trust, and allows a sense of belonging to take shape, whether someone is visiting for the first time or tenth. The architecture of the Center balances openness with protection, creating spaces that feel secure without feeling restrictive.

Designed through a trauma-informed lens, the building houses a double-height flex space living room that acts as the building’s heart and features maximal daylighting and a social stair that invites the youth to explore the services provided on the upper floor. The youth have access to lounge areas, a kitchen, a clothing storage area, TV room, laundry area, lockers, and a variety of chat rooms, group rooms, and exam rooms. Staff and visitors have their own zones connected by unobtrusive sightlines through gathering spaces, providing another element of discreet safety. A variety of seating configurations and quiet zones are incorporated to respect differing social and emotional needs. Youth are offered choices: socializing in open communal areas, finding solace in semi-private nooks, or engaging with staff. Every spatial decision reinforces the values of respect, dignity, and healing. A sheltered courtyard and light-filled interiors provide moments of calm, restoration, and connection to the outdoors.

This project serves as a civic space rooted in care and resilience. Its form and materiality establish a strong yet welcoming presence within the neighborhood, reflecting the importance of creating an environment where young people feel seen, respected, and supported. Every aspect of the design—from the form and organization of communal spaces to the integration of daylight and landscape—works to foster a sense of home, autonomy, and healing. The result is a building that not only supports essential services but also offers a lasting sense of stability, hope, and community for the youth it supports.

AC Martin designed a new 5,000 square foot Orthotics and Prosthetics (O&P) Education Center built adjacent to the existing College of Continuing and Professional Education (CCPE) building. The new education center houses a mechatronics lab, student lab, a maker space, clinical space, and shared resources for storage and deliverables. The O&P Department will utilize existing classroom space in the CCPE building for lecture courses. Located adjacent to Dignity Health Sports Park, the new O&P building will be used for prosthetic repairs for athletes at the 2028 Paralympics.

The Orthotics and Prosthetics Department was previously located off-campus in a 12,000 square foot Los Alamitos office park, approximately 16 miles away from the CSUDH main campus in Carson. CSUDH extensively studied how to bring the O&P program to the main campus, including scenarios for renovations, new construction, and nearby property purchases. However, the construction of a new O&P facility on campus yielded the most long-term operational savings as well as most closely meeting the needs of the program.

Bringing the O&P program back to the main campus provides many advantages, including closer connection to the College of Health and Human Development, College of Continuing and Professional Education, and University services and resources.

The Carina is part of an overall newly planned mixed-use community on the site of the MainPlace Santa Ana Mall. The mall's new master plan will include the addition of a food hall in "European marketplace" style, an interactive play center for children, upgrades to its movie theater, a grocery store, and two apartment communities with two new residential communities.

The Carina is slated to provide 407 highly amenitized units within a modern and timeless building that will be the new beacon of living at the MainPlace mall. Situated on the highly visible avenue of Main St, the south and east facade represent a high level of articulation using a rhythm of balconies and concrete frames as balconies. At their apex, the south and east façade come together to create a tall, elegant frame comprised of soft natural woods and tall, elegant glass while culminating in an overarching roof element which creates an overall sense of arrival.

The long sweeping east elevation is given a unique identity using slim articulated frames to accentuate key moments in the building façade, using smooth metal panels and light-colored plaster gives it a modern elegant feel. Using a mix of landscaping and curated horizontal fins to deter the visibility of the garage, creating a higher level of experience at the pedestrian level.

The new headquarters for the California Natural Resources Agency is a 22-story, 880,000 SF high-rise office tower serving as the workplace for several departments within the Agency, including the Department of Water Resources, Department of Fish and Wildlife, and the Department of Parks and Recreation. The project includes 10,000 SF of ground level retail/flexible space, a multi-vendor food court, and a verdant pedestrian plaza.

The sustainable features and strategies utilized for this LEED Platinum certified building include reclaimed water systems, mechanical chilled sails, and building materials such as rammed earth, reclaimed wood from the Paradise fire, and local/renewable materials. Designed to meet Net Zero Energy standards, the building’s Energy Use Intensity (EUI) is no more than 28.2 kBtu/sf/year.

AC Martin recently completed the Resources Building Renovation for the California Department of General Services in Sacramento, CA.

RESOURCES BUILDING RENOVATION

The Resources Building Renovation for the California Department of General Services consists of the comprehensive renovation of the original Resources Building at 1416 9th Street in Sacramento. The existing building is 17 stories and roughly 657,000 GSF. Utilizing a progressive design-build delivery method, the Turner + AC Martin + HGA Team’s approach addressed the State’s Goals and Critical Success Factors as fundamental touch points to ensure a project that brings the highest value and differentiates itself yet honors the significance of the original International Style building.

The renovation included the demolition of the existing building’s non-structural elements and a thorough abatement of materials. The fundamental massing of the building remained unchanged. The intervention introduced a new energy-efficient skin, with an orchestrated pattern of glass spandrel panels that recall the metaphor of the original façade.

The decorative open graphic on the East and West façade has been reinterpreted with vertical fins in an alternating light and dark pattern. The podium elevations are finished with a gradient pattern of glazed brick to enliven the pedestrian experience and support the City’s initiatives for the O Street corridor. The design of the office workplace is modern and flexible to facilitate collaboration and productivity while adaptable to change in the post-pandemic world. Sustainability was a priority, and the project is LEED Platinum certified and targets Carbon Neutrality and Zero Net Energy.

AC Martin also designed the New Natural Resources Agency Headquarters for the California Department of General Services, located across the street from the Resources Building Renovation.

NEW NATURAL RESOURCES AGENCY HEADQUARTERS