Pterodactyl by Eric Owen Moss | ITSLIQUID

Pterodactyl by Eric Owen Moss

Architecture | June 11, 2015 |

eric owen moss - pterodacty Image courtesy of Eric Owen Moss

Pterodactyl by Eric Owen Moss

The Pterodactyl is an office building for an advertising agency atop a parking garage in a complex of new and remodeled buildings in Culver City, Los Angeles. The perceived relationship of the two uses from the primary west elevation emphasizes the office building presence and minimizes the visibility of the parking garage. The parking structure is the conceptual podium for the office building. Buildings in the area are three floors or less, so the office building on the roof affords spectacular views of the entire city from downtown to the Santa Monica Mountains to the Westside of Los Angeles and the Pacific Ocean.

eric owen moss - pterodacty Image courtesy of Eric Owen Moss

The 800 car, four level parking structure is straightforward and inexpensive construction – steel frame, metal decks, regular bays, and ingress/egress ramps at opposite ends of the west face of the project. The required fireproofing of the structural steel was treated as a finish material and precisely applied to the steel frame. The Pterodactyl is the final phase of the Wedgewood Holly campus: office buildings that were originally part of a grouping of contiguous warehouses in Culver City that had been added to incrementally since the 1940s.

eric owen moss - pterodacty Image courtesy of Eric Owen Moss

The design premise required a strategic removal of portions of the original buildings in order to establish discrete new building identities, allow sufficient space for landscaping, and accommodate both pedestrian and automobile circulation on the site. The complex consists of five buildings, all designed by EOMA: Stealth, Umbrella, Slash, Backslash and now, Pterodactyl. The office building is formed by the intersection of nine rectangular boxes, lifted one level above the garage roof, stacked either on top of, or adjacent to each other, along the west edge of the garage roof. 

eric owen moss - pterodacty Image courtesy of Eric Owen Moss

The nine boxes organize essential program elements connected by an interior, second floor bridge. The underside of the boxes is cut to accommodate an open plan on the main office floor below. The boxes are supported on the steel column grid extended from the parking structure. The main office floor is rectangular in plan and enclosed with a glass wall that extends vertically to meet the elevated boxes one level above. The main floor is an entirely open plan, while the second floor is subdivided between open working areas and enclosed conference rooms and private offices, as the program requires.

eric owen moss - pterodacty Image courtesy of Eric Owen Moss

The Pterodactyl utilized Digital Project/Catia to provide advanced building information modeling (BIM), account for every detail of the building, and design complex structural and mechanical systems with a high level of control and precision. The model provided a direct interface with engineers and fabricators, increasing the accuracy and level of detail of construction drawings.

eric owen moss - pterodactyImage courtesy of Eric Owen Moss

Consultants collaborate directly in the model, providing a powerful tool for project management, cost estimating, and scheduling. The original four-level parking garage was built in 1998. The structure was designed to anticipate a future building, with steel columns extended above the top floor plate. With the addition of the Pterodactyl in 2015, the final element of the Wedgewood Holly complex is complete.

more. ericowenmoss.com

Are you an artist, architect, designer? Would you like to be featured on ITSLIQUID platform? Send an e-mail to info@itsliquid.com or fill the form below






    RELATED POSTS


    CAPITASPRING

    Architecture | November 25, 2023

    CapitaSpring is a 280-meter-tall high-rise oasis that continues the city’s pioneering vertical urbanism with a diverse neighbourhood of restaurants, office space, a Citadines serviced residence and sky gardens from the ground all the way up to the 51st floor. In 2018, the building was accorded Green Mark Platinum & Universal Design GoldPLUS certifications by the Building and Construction Authority of Singapore. Read more


    COLUMBIA BUSINESS SCHOOL

    Architecture | November 21, 2023

    Columbia Business School's new home spans approximately 492,000 square feet across two buildings that reflect the fast-paced, high-tech, and highly social character of business in the 21st century. Read more


    THE ARTIST’S GARDEN

    Architecture | November 13, 2023

    A poetic space for artists and those who are passionate about art, a place where emotional responses to seeing the sea can be shared, a great central garden, with fishermen and their boats, a small creek, parasols, and a rectangular harbour. Read more


    ST INTERNATIONAL HQ AND SONGEUN…

    Architecture | October 16, 2023

    The new ST SONGEUN Building houses art spaces for the SONGEUN Art and Cultural Foundation - a non-profit organization established in 1989 - together with headquarter offices for ST International. Our experience designing contemporary museums increasingly focuses on how we can bring art and people together. Read more


    Sign up for our Newsletter.

    Enter your email to receive our latest updates!