Interiors

The initial intent for this project was an MEP upgrade and replacement, but the University decided to take the opportunity to upgrade and reposition Payson Library to become more of an enhanced student experience—a destination for students to interact socially and academically.

The Library decided to shift its approach with the renovation—specifically, to make the Special Collections museum-quality and better known. Goals include a state-of-the-art restoration and training program to care for their unique archives. This new approach was refined through many stakeholder workshops.

The renovation provides several levels of study space, ranging from vibrant interactive areas to be used for lectures, to private break-out rooms for small groups or private study. These are flexible spaces that can provide the differing levels of privacy desired by users. The intent is for Payson Library to become the students’ “third place” on campus— a place where students spend time between home (dorms) and work (study). It will be a place where students can interact, exchange ideas, build relationships, and be part of the total student experience.

The "Surfurbia" ecology lives almost entirely on the expansive 7th-level pool deck and pool bar. Various patterns of blue and white tile mark key features including elevator and escalator lobbies, pool house showers, changing rooms, and the pre-function spaces adjacent to the indoor/outdoor Junior Ballroom. Together with a collection of murals and graphics of synchronized swimmers, navy blue sun chairs and striped lounge chairs, the pool deck experience evokes the nostalgia of summers at a Southern California beach house. A hand painted mural of “The Pool Ladies”, five synchronized swimmers in red suits, reinforces the mood and experience.

The pool bar is literally a pool carved into the side of the building with a bar in it. The sideways swimming pool is complete with white tile and blue lane dividers, a pool ladder and underwater pool lights, minus the water. The furniture includes blue flotation chair foam while the lights overhead are fashioned after buoys. Planter boxes frame the dining areas and are marked with oversized pool-depth marker symbols and the traditional “No Dive” symbol, which is where the bar gets its name.

The curving forms that define this auto-oriented space evoke a sense of motion and serve as a continuation of the building’s exterior architecture. The Porte Cochere is designed as a “drive-in lobby”, featuring high ceilings and natural light flooding in on three sides.

The 20-foot-tall mural above the main drive aisle spans an entire city block from Wilshire Blvd to 7th Street. Embracing the “Autopia” ecology, the hand-painted mural depicts elements of the Los Angeles horizon line instantly recognizable to those driving across the city. A silhouette of billboards, power lines, palm trees, cell phone towers that look like palm trees, and landmarks like Watts Towers and Randy’s imposing donut deliver an experience that is uniquely Los Angeles. 

Check-In

High-speed double-decker elevators deliver guests into the 70th-floor lobby with panoramic views of Los Angeles. The check-in pods seamlessly integrate the view beyond through a system of light-backed fiber optic concrete panels. The custom illuminated graphic transposes the widely recognized perspective of Los Angeles' endless grid of streets and boulevards as seen from the hills or air at night.

Immediately above the check-in area hangs a three-story-tall light sculpture made up of internally illuminated, multi-color resin segments. The intersection of the 10 and 110 freeways, directly in view, are the inspiration for this “Autopian” design. Freeways, while often uninspiring by car, become a light show of red, white and orange lights at night from 70 stories above. The ‘strung’ form is derived directly from mapping this key intersection including the on and off ramps, underpasses, overpasses and connectors. As if made from string, these draped strands are given form by gravity. The resin is molded to resemble headlights, tail lights and side lights.

Lounge

The lobby lounge responds to the southern views of the sprawling streets and boulevards. The structured furnishings, gridded fabrics and urban fixtures are an extension of the “Plains of Id” ecology in view. The custom rug designs are softened abstractions of the perspectival streets aglow after dark as viewed from a plane landing at LAX, from Griffith Park or the newly completed 70th-floor lobby.

Lounge Bar

The lobby bar located on the east side of the lobby positions hotel guests and Angelenos alike to take in a privileged view of downtown LA. Looking over the skyscrapers, financial district and historic core, this "never-before-seen" perspective is the backdrop for the upscale bar formed out of bookmatched Italian marble, darkened nickel silver liquor display and custom-designed bar lamps.

A black glass wall features a historical image of the Studebaker Dealership that originally occupied the site of the hotel, overlaid with text glowing in amber neon. It reads: "From MAIN we SPRING to BROADWAY and over the HILL to OLIVE, O wouldn’t it be GRAND if we could HOPE to pick a FLOWER on FIGUEROA." This old adage was taught to children to help them remember the order of the downtown streets. This feature weaves together a historical image and narrative authentic to the property that enriches the guest experience.

Bathrooms

The lobby bathrooms located on the northwest corner of the floor are marked by a floor-to-ceiling art installation featuring two well-known neon signs from LA’s past. Composed of “ironing man” and “diving lady” the enlarged photo is overlaid in part by actual neon.

The interior walls and stalls are lined with red back-painted glass and custom light fixtures. Two custom-designed glass urinals provide users with an obstructed view out while “seeing a man about a horse”.

The mirrors mask the view beyond with the exception of the clear glass words—‘Side View’ in the women’s room and ‘Rear View’ in the men’s room. The block letters cut out of the mirror are animated by the view beyond with the vibrancy of the 101 freeway and Hollywood projected prominently within each letter.

The 73rd-floor open air deck with 360-degree views features publicly accessible amenities including a rooftop bar, multiple lounges and an event space. Enclosed by a continuous glass wall, the south deck features a bar faced in terra cotta panels that runs the length of the central core wall. Directly adjacent to the bar, fire pits and custom faux-grass benches define the central lounge. Custom high-back “bird cage” chairs line the perimeter while a curvilinear terra cotta banquette wraps a large water feature lined with handmade tiles, offering up soothing background sounds to guests.

On the northeast corner, a private lounge surrounds a black marble bench seamlessly integrated with a custom-engineered fire and water feature. This feature comprises a grid of columns of flames reaching two feet in height, hovering over a dark sheet of water. The raw carved wood chairs, soft furnishings and blankets make for a comfortable niche with commanding views of the San Gabriel Mountains. The remaining deck at the northwest corner is reserved for special events and gatherings.

The signature glass sail that gives shape to the top of the tower soars 100 feet above the roof deck. The Spire, the namesake of this space, tops out at 173 feet above the roof deck and 1,100 feet above the street level below, making this the highest point and public lounge west of the Mississippi.

The Café at Annenberg is part of the  Annenberg Academic Building on the campus of the University of Southern California (USC). The 895 SF café was envisioned to be more than a food service outlet; it was designed to be a 24/7-student space. Carved out of a corner on the first floor and adjacent to the grand atrium, while clearly a continuation of the interior fabric, this café has its own distinction and has become a campus wide destination. The interior design team played with angles, verticality, and space planning to punctuate the new space.

The dual-function of the café was the primary challenge. In order to maximize the usable space, a compact food-service area was cleverly concealed with an accordion wall that, when closed, becomes an integrated glass writable surface that together with the rearrangible communal table provides students a collaboration center in the heart of the lobby. Features such as these were included in order to invite students to claim the space after hours.

The wood slat design also became a malleable design tool. The vertical slats adhered to the regularity and conformity of the exiting system. Here, they were used throughout the project and then integrated a series of custom infills. Spacing and rhythm varied from tight to loose to conceal otherwise unsightly functions such as a large air intake, electrical room access doors and other base building functions that all happened within this small footprint. 

The café has an exterior wall made of glass allowing for natural light to enter by day and for the space to act as a welcoming beacon by night. The central focal point is a mobile communal table under a row of decorative lighting pendants, both of which are anchored by the vaulted ceiling above. The modern color palette includes polished concrete, vertical white maple slat walls backed with back painted glass, and blue aluminum stools. The solid surface counter top made of cement and coarse glass chips brings a pop of color to the palette.

The new café has become a needed space offering students somewhere to eat, rest, study and collaborate.

The WG café is an anchor food amenity in the building’s podium serving the hotel, offices, and convention center. The venue is a floating mirrored glass box located within the gallery space at street level and is flooded with daylight.

This urban living room is conceived as an interface between the hotel and the city, an urban juncture that is visible from all podium levels and across the plaza. The space serves as the passage between indoor and outdoor, and connects the porte cochere and the plaza.

Indoor trees reinforce a human scale. Built-in banquettes, upholstered with ribbed, perforated leather, reference automotive upholstery and LA’s long standing car culture. Rocking chairs and communal tables offer a respite from the hubbub of the city.

The café is made of reflective blue glass and thin accent lights. The roof of the café is patterned, as seen from the balconies above, and visually completes the intricate stone floor pattern below. As urban camouflage, the café walls reflect the surrounding environment, highlighting the building’s architecture.

University Gateway is a private mixed-use development located across the street from the University of Southern California (USC), providing a 1,656-bed student housing project. The site was previously used for car dealerships and is now repositioned for student housing in response to a dramatic lack of on-campus housing for USC’s annual enrollment of 40,000 students (undergraduate, graduate, and professional). The ground floor is designed to accommodate commercial uses including restaurants and student services. The eight-level structure is a Type I concrete frame clad with exterior finishes that complement existing buildings on the USC campus.

The project was developed with the sophomore/junior in mind and intended to ease the transition for students to market rate housing as seniors. The primary unit type is a two-bedroom, each with a bath. Two students occupy each bedroom, sharing a common living, dining and kitchen area. Resident advisors and study rooms are provided on each floor. The centrally located 10,000 SF resident amenities space includes a fitness center, a communal kitchen, a concierge, a large study hall and smaller collaboration rooms and ‘the grand living room.’

The design objective was to move past the traditional product offering and to elevate the design to a new level in order to compete with private sector options. Well-appointed units, social spaces, rooftop decks and central courtyards contribute to this student-oriented design.

The 15,500 SF fast-track remodel of the Parkside dining facility at CSU Long Beach converted a plain cafeteria-style dining hall into a more diverse and eclectic ‘neighborhood-like’ dining experience. The new space aims to “deinstitutionalize” the student dining experience by creating a more comfortable, welcoming and home-like atmosphere. It will provide the students with different food offerings (pizza, healthy/vegan, open grill and comfort food) within the campus setting, allowing students to choose their dining experience (food and mood) much like one would in an urban environment.

AC Martin’s design offers seating areas with different characters and styles—from more communal seating for groups and informal gatherings to individual bar seating for quiet types. We also provide an outdoor shaded dining area/lounge to be open 24 hours. Our design differentiates the dining areas with special characteristics by varying lighting, finishes, colors and ambiance. The idea is to create a “home away from home” for students and provide them with opportunities for gathering, meeting, and collaborating during meal hours and finding a space of their own—a place they feel represents them.

View the article in the Orange County Register 

URBNMRKT, a grab ‘n’ go deli and future bar, occupies the former loading dock of a four-story building that now houses the University of Southern California's (USC) administrative offices. Fronting Grand Avenue in downtown Los Angeles and occupying three truck bays and 7,000 SF, this new urban-chic hangout has its roots deeply grounded in its industrial/operational history while its furnishings and interior design maintain a home-grown, modern vibe. Exposed stainless steel clad walls and fixtures, doors and the bar are juxtaposed by warm bamboo strand board wall panels. Custom-designed leather lounge chairs and ottomans are paired with off-the-shelf tables and bar stools with hand-painted legs. Simple glowing bulbs in custom steel armatures hang from the 18-foot ceiling, which was painted white to mask the old ducts, conduit and pipes.

The kitchen features a custom light installation as its primary source of light, spelling out “URBNMRKT” with stick fluorescent fixtures on the ceiling. The graphics throughout the space are hand spray painted stencils, further authenticating the urban industrial look and feel. In the rear of the space a continuous angled mirror reflects the huge graphic along the storefront. Beneath the mirror, three dock levelers were maintained and repurposed as leather booths, featuring the original dock leveler number stenciled on the diamond plate hanging over each booth.

With the original roll-down doors in place acting as security shutters at night, the new storefront wall is recessed, forming alcoves into which German biergarten tables are nestled amidst potted plants along the street.

This establishment not only continues USC’s drive to provide excellent amenities and first-rate dining options for its student and faculty but showcases the possibility of bringing in patrons from surrounding neighborhoods. This new model of authentic, non-corporate, home-grown design along with first-rate food and beverage offerings is a success for the students, university and local community alike.