Location:  Los Angeles, California

Client: State of California

The Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce headquarters is located in the Specific Plan area of Central City West, a large mixed-use commercial district west of the Harbor Freeway. The design provides a fresh statement for the Los Angeles business community in its classically proportioned rooms and circulation spaces. Interior and exterior finishes are rendered in refined modern materials employing state-of-the-art technology.

The 64,000 square foot headquarters building houses both the Chamber of Commerce space as well as leasable commercial office space for other tenants. The building is a compact classic structure whose exterior skin is a combination of masonry, including precast concrete and natural stones, with tinted energy-efficient glasses surrounded by formal geometric plantings on the street frontages. The building’s major entry is on Bixel Street; the site is bounded by 3rd and 4th Streets on the North and South, major arteries leading in and out of downtown Los Angeles. The large radial entry on Bixel is fenestrated with a skylight leading the visitor into a large two-story lobby. A monumental stair at the end of the lobby axis leads to private Chamber offices on the second floor. On the left side of the lobby is an information center, conveniently located elevators which service the basement and second floor. Directly beyond the stair is the board room, a broadly glazed sunlit space accommodating up to 70 members and serviced by a large full-service kitchen. The board room offers views of downtown Los Angeles across the Harbor Freeway and gives onto an outdoor terrace which functions as an outdoor gathering space and pre-function area for the board room itself. The second story of the building includes the Chamber offices, support space and an overlook to the lobby below.