Maguire Partners
Project Name: Maguire Partners / Location: Santa Monica, CA / Area: 14,400 square feet — In the late summer 2005, Maguire Partners, a Los Angeles development company, approached Clive Wilkinson Architects with a request to relocate its Executive Offices from a glass tower in downtown LA to a radically new environment in a 14,400 square ft. penthouse space, one block away from Santa Monica Beach with dramatic waterfront views. Inspired by Southern California’s native beach culture and the site’s natural surroundings, the main design vocabulary employs two different variations of curved shapes, expressing the extremes of the motion of water. Anchored at both ends of the space, the executive conference rooms are made up of edgy, shard-like slanting walls. Colored glass in dark and light shades is sandwiched in-between, creating a highly textured and faceted surface that resembles breaking surf. Throughout the floor in open workstation areas, more rounded overlapping low partitions evoke imagery of gentler rolling waves. The two conference rooms and workstations in between are connected by a floating ceiling plane. The ceiling is a dynamic visual element that houses lighting and also visually conceals the mechanical ducting located above, while allowing the overall building envelope to be exposed beyond. The expression of motion and energy is also carried through in the detailing of the space. Millwork at the reception, pantry, and conference rooms serve as freestanding sculptural objects that are fully integrated in the same formal language. Full size CNC-milled foam mock-ups were used as a design and construction tool on site to fine tune the highly sculptural design and ensure precise construction of the multiple unique complex curving forms. The foam pieces not only contributed to time and cost savings in construction, but served as a life-sized model for the Architect. The final wall shapes and locations were determined with these mock-ups in the field. The complex faceted and curved millwork elements, such as the Caesarstone reception desk, were also produced using the same CNC technology. This technology enabled the execution of the project’s highly complex and organic geometry. Caesarstone was also used on the counters and a vertical wall surface in the kitchenette. — Credits Design Architect: Clive Wilkinson Architects - Clive Wilkinson Developer: Maguire Partners MEP Engineers: M-E Engineers General Contractor: Corporate Contractors Millwork: Art Crafters Lighting Consultant: Kaplan Gehring McCarroll Architectural Lighting Photographer: Benny Chan, Fotoworks
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