Thaxton & Associates Office Building and Retail

Located on a busy Studio City thoroughfare near restaurants and shops, the dynamic surfaces of this 6,000 square foot mixed-use building reactivates the neighborhood with animated, glazed openings that link the building to the street through the careful direction of views. The facade directs focus from and to a variety of points surrounding the site through peel-out windows and cantilevered rooms, allowing front and side elevations to orient their views to the street while extending the office interiors. A cantilevered conference space defines the front corner while the animated alley facade brings life to a formerly ignored space. As the horizontal window boxes peel away from the building, they allow the interior to engage the building’s public presence, giving specific but varying glimpses to passing walkers and drivers. By creating these shared views, the building discovers a kind of urbanism that invigorates the pedestrian street while maximizing its full site footprint. The scale and orientation of these glimpses likewise captures the street itself and nearby corner gas station: a nod to the ‘car culture’ so inherent to Los Angeles. This choreography of neighborhood-connecting views has already made the building’s design a new and local landmark.