ArchShowcase 
Sanjay Gangal
Sanjay Gangal is the President of IBSystems, the parent company of AECCafe.com, MCADCafe, EDACafe.Com, GISCafe.Com, and ShareCG.Com. Santa Monica Proper Modern Hotel in California by Howard Laks ArchitectsJanuary 20th, 2021 by Sanjay Gangal
Article source: Howard Laks Architects Santa Monica Proper Hotel combines the adaptive reuse of a designated Spanish Colonial Revival Landmark with a contemporary curvaceous concrete-and-glass curvaceous addition that creates a fresh perspective of the merging of modern and preservation architecture. This adaptive use of the 1928 Santa Monica Professional Building resulted in the city’s first “luxury lifestyle hotel.” The 1928 Santa Monica Professional Building was landmarked by the Landmarks Commission in 2005.  At the corner of Wilshire Boulevard and 7th Street, the façade of the contemporary addition draped around the Landmark building, reading as monumental and orderly juxtaposed waveforms. Photo: Tim Street-Porter
 The smooth curves are clearly differentiated from the rigid, faceted, angular tower of the landmark building while maintaining similar mass, height, and building proportions. Photo: Tim Street-Porter
 The 1928 Historic Santa Monica Professional Building and new addition waveforms along Wilshire Blvd. Photo: Tim Street-Porter  Santa Monica Proper hotel frontage along 7th Street. Photo: Tim Street-Porter The landmarked Santa Monica Professional Building was seismically retrofitted after the 1994 Northridge Earthquake, however current building codes required addition reinforcement, which included added reinforced concrete shear walls at the basement and first-floor levels and reinforcing the original interior structural columns and perimeter walls. During the design phase of the work, it was discovered that the historic exterior ornamental waste mold concrete was covered with multiple layers of paint. These layers were removed to uncover the historic finish and cast-stone decorative details, which were restored to their original glory. The original steel sash casement windows and hardware were repaired, and the paint removed. After paint removal, the steel frames and sashes were re-painted with an enamel finish to replicate the historic patina found underneath the existing paint. To achieve thermal and acoustical performance required by current building codes, interior secondary windows were installed so as to not disturb the historic character of the original steel windows.  Retail Paseo Entrance from 7th Street. Photo: Tim Street-Porter  Retail Paseo Entrance from 7th Street at dusk. Photo: Tim Street-Porter The rehabilitation included new ground-floor aluminum doors with wide stiles and rails in keeping with historic storefront doors. The decorative twisted metal ropes flanking the storefronts and twisted metal pickets at the transoms were cleaned, removed of paint, and repaired. Located above the storefront windows on 7th Street and Wilshire Boulevard, the historic wood transoms were retained, made operable as they were historically, and fixed in place. The composition shingle cladding on the seventh-floor mansard and hipped roof was replaced with terra-cotta Mission tiles, as visible in historic photographs of the building. Deteriorated cast-stone elements were stabilized, pinned, and anchored as necessary. Missing cast-stone finials were reconstructed based on existing examples and historic photographs.  Santa Monica Professional Building prior to restoration, circa 2012. Image: courtesy Howard Laks Architects  Santa Monica Professional Building restoration completed in 2020. Photo: Tim Street-Porter The landmark building connects to the new building in two locations: at the basement level and at the podium level. At the podium level, the connection is provided by a bridge that “kisses” the south elevation of the landmark. The basement connection is for service, rather than public use. These two physical connections are minimized to the greatest extent possible. This composition retains all elevations of the distinctive Y-shaped tower while allowing both buildings to function as a whole with substantial new use of the site. The curved wings of the new building are angled to reflect the Y-shaped plan of the historic building, while the smooth curves are clearly differentiated from the faceted, angular tower of the historic building. The wing of the new building on Wilshire Boulevard is recessed from the street edge to allow primary views of the historic building to dominate. In keeping with the decorative cast-stone beltway at the sixth floor of the historic building, the sixth floor of the new building is highlighted through a wall of windows inset from the concrete building face. The proportions of the narrow windows in the new building echo the proportions of the upper floor windows in the landmark building, and the smooth concrete finish of the new building is differentiated from the ashlar pattern concrete finish of the landmark building. The Santa Monica Proper hotel consists of 271-guest rooms, retail, restaurants, spa, banquet rooms, roof-top pool and bar, and four levels of below-grade parking. A new restaurant Onda (Spanish meaning wave) will open on the ground floor of the landmark Building and the Surya Spa is located on the ground floor of the new building.  Second-Floor podium event space for Santa Monica Proper. Photo: Tim Street-Porter  Santa Monica Professional Building main entrance along Wilshire Blvd. Photo: Tim Street-Porter  Juxtaposition between historic building and new addition. Photo: Tim Street-Porter  Santa Monica Proper Hotel roof-top pool. Photo: Tim Street-Porter  Santa Monica Proper ground floor plan. Image: courtesy Howard Laks Architects  Santa Monica Proper section. Image: courtesy Howard Laks Architects  Santa Monica Proper west elevation. Image: courtesy Howard Laks Architects
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Tags: California, Santa Monica Categories: Hotel, Renovation |
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