Los Angeles, California

 

Program: A four-level, 27,000-square-foot performance hall with an auditorium on the two main floors, office space on a small third floor, a lounge and parking below plaza level, and three additional floors of subterranean parking. The project restores and renovates the 1960s-era Mark Taper Forum, a part of the Music Center of Los Angeles County.

Design concept and solution: Rios Clementi Hale Studios set out to update and expand the Welton Becket building without compromising the original design. To gain space in the lobby—and better spotlight the abalone wall mosaic by Tony Duquette—they reduced the size of the ticket booth and moved the restrooms to a new level downstairs. This new lounge level extends the circular structure's girth below ground, borrowing square footage from the parking garage. Inside, the lounge matches the arc of the original structure and feels like a part of Becket's design. In keeping with the forum's curves, Rios Clementi Hale chose circular motifs for the carpet and the lounge's polished aluminum ceiling.

Architect:
Rios Clementi Hale Studios
639 Larchmont Blvd., Ste. 100
Los Angeles, CA 90004
Tel: 323.785.1800
Fax: 323.785.1842

Location: Los Angeles, CA

Completion Date: June 2009

Total construction cost: $30 million

People

Owner: The Music Center of Los Angeles County

Architect:
Rios Clementi Hale Studios
639 Larchmont Blvd., Ste. 100
Los Angeles, CA 90004
tel-323.785.1800
fax-323.785.1842

Personnel in architect's firm who should receive special credit:
Mark Rios, FAIA, FASLA, principal
Frank Clementi, AIA, AIGA, principal
Robert Hale, FAIA, principal
Jennifer Reynolds, senior associate and project designer
Michael Martinez, designer
Randy Walker, director of environmental design

Eexecutive architect(s): Harley Ellis Devereaux

Interior designer: Rios Clementi Hale Studios

Engineer(s): MEP—Harley Ellis Devereaux. Structural—KPFF

Consultant(s)
Lighting: Kaplan Gehring McCarroll

Acoustical: Jaffe Holden

Project Management: TRIP

Theatrical Consultant: Sachs Morgan Studio

General contractor: Taisei Construction Corp.; TRIP

Photographer(s):
Tom Bonner: 310.396.7125; tsbphoto@aol.com

Craig Schwartz: craig@craigschwartz.net

  

Products

Interior finishes
Throughout
Custom Terrazzo Flooring: Corradini

Carpeting: custom designed by Rios Clementi Hale Studios; made by Couristan

Marble: Noir Saint Laurent marble

Lobby
Metal Mesh: Cascade Coil Drapery

Ceiling Fins: custom designed by Rios Clementi Hale Studios; fabricated by Gordon
 
Ceiling Panels: Decoustics

Ceiling Lighting: custom designed by Rios Clementi Hale Studios and Kaplan Gehring McCarroll

Lounge
Ceiling: custom designed by Rios Clementi Hale Studios

Seating Fabric: Knoll

Auditorium
Back-Wall Panels: Decoustics

Side-Wall Zebrawood Panels: Veneer Specialists

Acrylic Ceiling Panels: 3-Form

Chairs: Irwin Seating Company; Chair Fabric: KM Fabric