Gehry Releases Designs for Sunset Strip Mixed Use

Canadian-born American architect Frank Gehry, based in Los Angeles, has revealed plans for a $300 million mixed use development intended to serve as the "gateway" to California's Sunset Strip. Gehry Partners, alongside Townscape Partners, released renderings and model photos of a cluster of five architecturally distinct buildings across 2.6 acres around a central plaza. Two of the commercial buildings, "made from glass with cross-laminated timber mullions," according the Architectural Record's Anna Fixsen, will be dedicated to retail: stores, cafés, and restaurants. Of three residential buildings, two will feature concrete frames, with the taller one capped by "a sculptural top of billowing glass." And the central residential structure will have "a white, tubular facade ... that is evocative of a sea anemone."

"We're hoping to create a sustainable, livable, walkable community," said developer Tyler Siegel, cofounder of Townscape Partners. Siegel and business partner John Irwin, along with investment advisor Angelo, Gordon & Co., acquired the property in 2012 after leaving the Related Companies to establish their own firm. They considered revamping the existing strip mall, but it became clear that they needed to build something unique—both programmatically and architecturally. "Not only does it form the border between Los Angeles proper and West Hollywood, but it forms the eastern gateway to the famous Sunset Strip," says Siegel. "It's also the first property you see when traveling from the valley of the Santa Monica Mountains to the L.A. basin."

Gehry reportedly said of the project at 8150 Sunset Boulevard, "[Residents and future visitors] should feel that they are part of L.A., a part of L.A. that has a culture that comes with it." Positioned at the so-called Gateway to the Sunset Strip at the curving intersection of Crescent Heights Boulevard, Havenhurst Drive and Sunset Boulevard, Gehry's mixed-use, three-story retail center and 11-story residential tower (which is expected to achieve LEED silver status) emphasizes pedestrian access and preserving Sunset's relatively low streetscape.

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