Architecture Tour of LAPD HQ
Author:Lindsey ShookWhen one thinks of the police, one thinks of rules and regulations. You don’t think of cutting edge design, a great use of space or wonderful plazas. Working with a no-man’s land of concrete, the creative design team created an urban civic center that turns the LAPD’s new 500,000-square-foot, 10-story, headquarters that is less like a fortress and more like a downtown destination.
On Saturday, November 13, join the Society of Architectural Historians/Southern California Chapter (SAH/SCC) for an unprecedented opportunity to visit the new Los Angeles Police Department Administration Building and hear its story. This event will include a lecture and slide presentation from AECOM design principal Jose Palacios, the designer who partnered with project architect Paul Danna.
A LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified Gold project for sustainability, the new headquarters was conceived and executed through a highly collaborative process with over 30 public workshops involving a wide variety of community and stakeholder groups. Key issues considered: massing, traffic, pedestrian circulation, amenities and open space. The designers took these meetings to heart and developed generous public spaces, civic plazas and lush gardens that promote a sense of openness and community between the LAPD and the surrounding neighborhood.
Definitely check out the reflecting pool water element that frames the terraced walkways—part of the Melendrez Design Partners landscape scheme. Standing in front of the water element, you can see LA City Hall (John Parkinson, John C. Austin, and Albert C. Martin, Sr., 1928) reflecting within the 10-story glass wall of the new police headquarters—a poignant image.
THE DETAILS:
LAPD Headquarters Downtown Los Angeles, November 13, from 11:30 – 12:30
reservations required; call 800.972-4722 or email info@sahscc.org
$20 for non-member guests (applicable toward new membership with Society of Architectural Historians/Southern California Chapter
