Los Angeles
Lighting Design Alliance

Lighting Design Alliance accents architectural details at Warner Bros. Studio Plaza in Burbank, California

By William Weathersby, Jr.

	Photo © Benny Chan/Fotoworks

For longtime client Warner Bros., the Los Angeles office of HLW recently renovated 420,000 square feet of office space in an existing building across the street from the the company’s main film and television studio lot in Burbank, California. Consolidating corporate divisions from at least five locations, the renamed Warner Bros. Studio Plaza complex includes a new headquarters for Warner Home Video, which occupies approximately 200,000 square feet on multiple floors. “As a leader in the industry, the home video division distributes DVDs to clients around the world and wanted to steer away from the standard corporate look yet maintain a high level of sophistication,” says HLW partner in charge Shari Jalali. “We created simple geometries with a tailored, clean-lined look.” Partially inspired by the work of Piet Mondrian, the interiors encompass abstract linear graphics and a color palette built around red and white surfaces complemented by wood finishes. Lighting Design Alliance enhanced the spaces with integrated architectural illumination. Edge and cove lighting gives definition to vertical and horizontal planes, while providing visual cues that guide circulation throughout each floor.

The focal point of the 11th-floor lobby for the home video division is a recessed feature wall that frames a flat-screen monitor with frosted glass. The luminous glass surface is inset into a section of red-painted drywall. To make the red wall appear to float out from the surface of surrounding paneling of figured sycamore, LDA project lighting designer Andrew Powell lit the top and bottom edges with cold-cathode fixtures. Reveals at the top and bottom of the sycamore surfaces are also lined with cold cathode, to make each layer of the wall stand out as a three-dimensional collage. Contrasting with juxtaposed flooring surfaces of cherry and limestone, the reception desk and the wall behind it are also surfaced with honey-colored sycamore. Low-voltage xenon strip lights illuminate the logo along one wall, while three adjustable MR16 downlights accent the desk. A light box at one end of the desk features a translucent panel backlit with fluorescents. Light boxes are used throughout the complex to add visual appeal. Additional IR, MR16 downlights serve as ambient lighting in the reception area, creating an effect similar to the warmth of incandescent light.

HLW reconfigured an internal staircase connecting floors within the video division. Limestone stair treads, a stainless-steel and glass banister, and a wood handrail support a streamlined look. Over the staircase, 35-watt, PAR20 downlights graze the staircase with ambient light.

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the People Owner Warner Bros. Studios Designer Lighting Design Alliance 1234 E. Burnett St. Signal Hill, CA  90755 p-562-989-3843 f-562-989-3847 www.lightingdesignalliance.com/ Lighting design project team: Andrew A. Powell, LC Architect HLW International 1630 Stewart Street, Suite 100 Santa Monica, CA  90404 310.453.2800 www.hlw.com Partner-in-charge: Chari Jalali Associate architect(s) Kevin Kilmer www.kevinkilmer.com Interior designer Pam Juba, Becky Tanouya (both with HLW) Electrical engineer(s) Kocher, Schirra Goharizi (Theodore Chan) Consultant(s) Retail Consultant: Krueger Design Group Linda Krueger www.kruegerdesigngroup.com/ General contractor Corporate Contractors, Inc. www.cciwi.com Photographer Benny Chan @ Fotoworks 323.730.0100 www.fotoworks.cc

the Products Lighting Interior ambient lighting: Lightolier (recessed fluor.) www.lightolier.com Birchwood Lighting (coves, wallslots and light column) www.birchwoodlighting.com/ Downlights: Lightolier www.lightolier.com Birchwood Lighting www.birchwoodlighting.com/ Kurt Versen www.kurtversen.com Engineered Lighting Products (ELP) www.elplighting.com/ Other (neon, custom, etc.):  California Cathode (cold cathode) Lumetta www.lumettainc.com/ Tokistar www.tokistar.com/ Controls: Lutron dimming systems in all conf. rooms www.lutron.com