Location: Marina Del Rey, California, United States.

Architect: Rapt Studio.

The Bradmore Group, a private equity real estate firm, approached Rapt to transform six industrial buildings into a cohesive multi-tenant campus. Instead of converting the property to multi-family units, they chose to establish office space that caters to young, up-and-coming creatives. Rapt completed a comprehensive site analysis and prioritized highlighting the indoor-outdoor connection and unifying the campus’s disparate parts. They worked with key original features, like exposed brick and masonry, while providing a facelift to the existing non-descript buildings that have been around since the 1950s. The original structures were stripped back to their bare finishes and left exposed, creating a mix of textures and layers. Masonry walls were repainted to unify the color palette, and clean metal finishes polish the look. Perforated surfaces add extra texture. Rapt established ground-level and second-story outdoor spaces with the help of a landscape architect and structural engineer. Solid walls were opened up with windows and skylights, and a continuous path framed by plants winds its way from one end of the campus to the other. New doors on adjacent buildings allow tenants to meet outside, drift in and out of their office spaces, and enjoy the temperate Southern California climate. Two fully furnished roof decks provide views of the entire campus, and numerous ground-level patios offer a chance to catch a little sun. The campus improvements were compelling enough that The Bradmore Group itself chose to relocate to one of the buildings on the campus, leaving their long-time home base in Santa Monica. They’re joined by several other companies who’ve made a home there. The improvements open up previously closed-off, disconnected spaces, establishing clear sightlines from inside to outside and building to building, revealing activity that would otherwise happen behind closed doors. Luring people outside and inspiring them to connect, it interjects life into the space and encourages tenants to cross paths all day long – fueling the kind of interactions that inspire creative work.

Photo credit: Eric Laignel.