Playa Del Ray, California
Clive Wilkonson Architects

Photography © Patrick Bingham Hall

TBWA/Chiat/Day, an internationally renowned advertising agency, had outgrown their existing premises and planned to relocate to the Playa Vista area of Los Angeles. The vision for their new headquarters called for the creation of an ‘advertising city' constructed inside a large warehouse, where the company of 500 people could be brought together in one space. The ambitious program and the scale of the 120,000 square foot warehouse offered the chance of developing this small city environment with multiple levels, park space and an irregular ‘skyline'.

The various departments and service facilities were to be connected through a ‘Main Street' which bisects the ground floor, and bridges and ramps that connect mezzanines in the 27 foot high space. The need to articulate diversity in the distribution of functions lead to the adoption of different methods of making space. Cliff dwellings became steel structures to minimize clearances, wood framing was cost effective for most build out, and temporary structures were best formed in fabric tents, allowing easy replacement and reminding people of shrouded buildings under construction.

On the exterior, a sculptural metal clad ‘gatehouse' pavilion was proposed to accommodate the agency's main entrance and provide an identifying landmark. The warehouse site provided the opportunity to offer a "capsulized" entry in the form of a gatehouse. This structure accommodates a reception area and gallery for displaying the agency's work, and is connected to the main warehouse by two pedestrian bridges, one leading to the ground floor and one to the second level inside. From the gatehouse the ‘city' is entered through these fifty-foot long tubes.

The project was completed in 14 months, on time and within budget, on December 1, 1998. From June 1999, the patented Nest workstation product became available in the open market from Steelcase dealerships.

For more on this project please see the October 2001 issue of Architectural Record.

The Winners: Chesapeake Bay | Corning Museum | Dulwich Galllery | Kuhonji Temple Gate | LVMH Tower | Pedestrian Bridge | Phillips Plastics | Saitama Arena | SAP Headquarters | Chiller Plant | Wieden + Kennedy Headquarters

The Finalists: Allegheny Jail | Hansen Construction | Helmut Lang Perfumerie | Herman Miller Showroom | Lincoln St. Garage | TBWA/Chiat/Day | U.S. Courthouse | Westpac Stadium

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