Located in Downtown Los Angeles’ South Park neighborhood, the HUB is conceived as a turn-key creative village with access to freeways, mass transit and the greater metropolis. Consisting of the adaptive reuse of the primary structural elements of an early 20th century three-story cast concrete warehouse and the adjacent brick and wood framed automotive repair station, the project entails the removal and replacement of the exterior cladding and the wholesale modernization of the site’s outdated infrastructure.

To address the client’s interest in developing a dynamic community based upon encouraging collaboration in the music and associated creative industries, the HUB Studios is organized around a contiguous accessible core ascending vertically through the building’s interior. The core loosely links all shared amenities provided to the building occupants, such as the lobby/reception, screening room, recording studio, kitchen and lounge, conference rooms, and roof deck. In addition, the core operates as a condenser of the village’s various occupants and their clientele. Music, film, design, art, and business professionals mix within the communal spaces of the lobby, lounge, interior porch and roof deck for both social and professional exchange.

On a production level, the project allows individual tenants to select a working environment suitable to their individual needs, while providing access to state of the art recording facilities and accessory services. Private multi-level production pods hold a small recording booth/technical space on the lower level and an office space above. Traditional office space is contained on the third floor of the building. All production pods and offices are virtually tied-in to the large recording studio to accommodate more complex recording projects.

In addition to the office program within and to support the redevelopment of South Park, retail and restaurant spaces occupy the street level and engage the sidewalk. The uses proposed within these spaces are intended to both support the energy of the street and the client’s general desire for the site’s local community. The expression of the project’s mission is emphasized through the shingled translucent skin, wrapping the original structures, supporting the expanding street life in South Park, exposing the emerging community within the HUB, and acoustically containing the office and recording spaces housed within.

Project Team: Aaron Neubert (Principal), David Chong, Jeremy Limsenben, Matt Gehm, Blair Ellis