Los Angeles, California

Owner: Rottet Studio, LLC

Completion Date: November 2008

 

Program: A 9,600-square-foot office for Rottet Studio's Los Angeles practice. Located on the seventh floor of City National Plaza in the city's downtown area, the office includes a central open-plan work area, a conference room, and a finish and samples library.

Design concept and solution: Working with ideas of exposure and enclosure, the architects wanted their office to feel as though it were hovering above the city. The low-ceilinged space was gutted for their renovation, and they filled it with floating walls and ceiling panels: the elevator bank and the reception area are defined by articulated walls that end a few inches above the floor. To enhance this sense of suspension, Rottet lit the walls from underneath, using concealed fluorescent tube lighting and mirrors to produce a steady glow. To create the illusion of depth—and extra height—the architects suspended white panels below the existing black ceiling so that it appears to recede. The Rottet team restricted their color palette to black, white, and neutral—white marble floors, nude carpet—to reiterate the contrast between positive and negative space.

People

Owner: Rottet Studio, LLC

Architect:
Rottet Studio
555 South Flower, Suite 700
Los Angeles, CA 90071

Personnel in architect's firm who should receive special credit:
Lauren Rottet, FAIA, FIIDA – Founding Principal (RA, Texas and New York)
Richard Riveire, AIA – Principal-in-Charge (RA, California)
Charles Lee, AIA, IIDA, LEED AP – Project Architect (RA, Arizona)
Laurence Cartledge – Project Designer

Interior designer: Rottet Studio   

Engineer(s): WM Group West

General contractor: Environmental Contracting Corp      

Photographer(s):
Arden Ash
arden@ardenash.com
818-726-7950

CAD system, project management, or other software used: AutoCAD 2009

  

Products

Hardware AM Cabinets
Exit devices: Lithonia

Pulls: Elmes

Interior finishes
Acoustical ceilings: Armstrong

Suspension grid: Sihouette

Cabinetwork and custom woodwork: AM Cabinets, Inc

Paints and stains: Frazee Paint

Draperies: Fabric Maharam “Span”

Plastic laminate: Formica

Special surfacing: Stone Floor, Stone Source, Bianco Dolomiti

Carpet:  Library, Conference Rooms, Private Offices: Constantine, Agave; Open Office: Bentley Prince Street, Base Metal.  Reception: Custom Design by Rottet Studio, executed by Decorative Carpets

Furnishings
Office furniture: Knoll Studio, Reff
Reception furniture: Bernhardt Design, Vika; Fabric: Bernhardt Textiles Uniform/Passion on the outer shell and Bernhardt Textiles Dot on inner shell; both fabrics are 90% wool, 10% stretch poly.

Chairs:  Knoll Studio, Life
Other furniture: Studio Lounge furniture: Lynx Collection, Richard Riveire for Martin Brattrud

Lighting
Interior ambient lighting: RSA

Downlights: Cooper Lighting; Birchwood Lighting

Task lighting: Focal Point

Add any additional building components or special equipment that made a significant contribution to this project:
Subcontractors

  • Phillip’s Draperies  (interior draperies subcontractor)
  • Martin Bros. / Marcowall, Inc.  (drywall subcontractor)
  • O’Bryant Electric (electrical subcontractor)
  • EZ Shelving Systems, Inc.
  • Muir-Chase Plumbing Co. (plumbing and appliances subcontractor)
  • Roundtree Glass Co, (glass and glazing subcontractor)
  • Randall McAnany Company (painting subcontractor)
  • DFS Flooring (flooring subcontractor)
  • Touchstone Marble (stone subcontractor)
  • SCI (lighting distributor)
  • Grani (acoustical ceiling subcontractor)
  • Air-Tec (H.V.A.C. subcontractor)
Cosco Fire Protection (fire sprinklers subcontractor)