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A sure sign that Los Angeles is urbanizing and slowly but surely shedding its auto-centric image, a car wash at the corner of Olympic Boulevard and Figueroa Street is slated for major intensification. Neman Real Estate Investments has appointed architect Nardi Associates to design the Olympic Tower, which is seeking a height of 57 storeys and 226 metres, and if approved, would become one of the city's tallest buildings.
The project employs a variety of uses that are compatible with the mixed-use nature of the neighbourhood. Olympic Tower's interior program would allot room for 374 residential units, 373 hotel rooms, nearly 11,000 square feet of conference area, almost 33,500 square feet of offices, and over 65,000 square feet of commercial space. There would also be a 14-level parking garage, with six levels located underground.
Residents will have exclusive access to amenity decks on the 13th, 56th, and 57th floors, a large canvas of spaces that will host two outdoor swimming pools, lounge seating, fire pits, barbecues, water features, and extensive landscaping. The commercial space would occupy the first two floors, while office space is reserved for the sixth level and above. A sky lobby on the 14th floor signals the start of the hotel component, which spans floors 15 to 31. The residential units would then occupy the remaining uppermost levels of the building.
The verdant and futuristic tower has been designed as a monumental urban tree, with vegetation and photovoltaic panels fused along a structural grid surface. The project's vertically stacked functions are clearly defined and illustrated in the architecture of the building. The upper condominium levels are composed of a regular grid of steel columns supporting steel-framed floors with a composite concrete metal deck floor. The exterior articulation becomes more irregular within the hotel levels, which are positioned around vertical gardens and balconies. The structure shifts again into a concrete post-tensioned flat plate construction within the parking levels, framed by a diagrid exoskeleton.
The development has been reviewed by the Downtown Los Angeles Neighborhood Council's Planning and Land Use Committee (DLANC), but there is no clear timeline for construction yet. Additional images and information can be found in the Database file linked below. Want to get involved in the discussion or share your photos? Check out the associated Forum thread or leave a comment at the bottom of this page.
