| Water’s
Edge at Playa Vista
Los Angeles, California
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Studies: Green Buildings> Water's Edge
Developers Invest in Concrete at Water’s
Edge
Speculative office building offers quality, sustainability
 Playa
Vista, a rapidly growing community on the west side of Los Angeles, is
home to a mixed-use development incorporating residential, office, commercial,
and retail space. When developers Maguire Partners and Equity Office Partners
decided to collaborate on speculative office buildings in the area, they
used concrete to form both the structure and much of the exterior of Building
2, creating a building that offers energy efficiency,flexible
spaces, and a naturally beautiful aesthetic to tenants.
Building 2 of the Water’s Edge at Playa Vista project is four stories
tall, offering 45,000 square feet of space per floor. A minimalist
aesthetic throughout the building embraces exposed, unpainted concrete
enhanced using formwork liners and reveals without increasing costs.
On the exterior, the same aesthetic is given a creative treatment through
the
use of custom-designed formliners that create contrasting façade
patterns.
The cast-in-place concrete design minimized cladding needs,
keeping exterior cladding strictly glass. Expansive windows
allow maximum daylighting and dramatic views of the Pacific Ocean, the
Ballona Wetlands, and Marina Del Rey.
Kaz Baba, project designer with the architectural firm of Gensler, says
exposed concrete flat plate floor systems and perimeter moment
frames reduced overall project costs by reducing the floor-to-floor
height, eliminating skin costs at exposed beams and reducing ceiling costs
throughout. The resulting increase in window height and location not only
offers more daylighting; it is also a more efficient utilization of the
floor-to-floor height. For tenants, “that not only adds environmental
benefits, but also creates an overall better environment,” says
Baba.
Flexible space and large open expanses within the building, in addition
to
concrete’s excellent thermal mass, help increase HVAC efficiency
and lower
energy costs. That same flexibility makes the building more attractive
to
potential long-term tenants, contributing to the overall sustainability
of the
project.
Photo Courtesy: EPO & Maguire Properties
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Owner/Developer:
Maguire Partners &
Equity Office Partners
(in joint venture)
Architects:
Gensler
Structural Engineer:
Saiful/Bouquet
General Contractor:
Matt Construction
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