Project Data:

Completion Date:     11/16/2018

Square Footage:      34900

Building Use:           Fitness/Health

Design Architect:      RDC.

Project Description:

An urban neighborhood context surrounds the existing 8-story, 1980s midrise which formally housed the HQ offices of Sony Pictures in the core of Downtown Culver City. This 2-level 34,900 SF luxury fitness club introduces a bold architectural intervention exploiting the existing 363,000SF building as a neutral canvas. The exterior façade strategically contrasts the existing building using the concept of “iconic portals,” defined by the three unique street edges; Washington Boulevard, Madison Avenue, and the entry circle drive. The portals, composed of custom-cast concrete fins, concrete panels, and seamless glass encased in a blackened steel frame, create visual motion and movement along the street frontages. The faceted façade wraps into the entry, blends the café, retail boutique, membership concierge and establishes a strong formal connection from the exterior to the internal entry experience. An artfully fabricated glass tube and steel rod screen offers visual privacy in the lounge while offering openness and connectivity to the club’s main axis that leads to the open fitness zone. The second level terrace overlooks Sony Pictures Studio featuring a luxurious suite of lockers, showers, sauna, and spa. A rich palette of warm, natural wood and stone introduces a purposeful contrast to the precision materials of steel and glass. The project is in the final stages of WELL certification and is distinguished as a pilot project for Fitness for the WELL by the International WELL Building Institute. This dynamic presence in the buzzing creative hub of Culver City celebrates a strong integration of interior and exterior design.