With the most recent purchase of the 155,000 sf Canyon Corporate Center, Hines is one of Orange County’s five largest office landlords on a square footage basis with an office portfolio that tops 3 million square feet. Hines is a global real estate investment firm with a presence in 19 countries and a portfolio totaling 531 properties, representing over 186 million square feet.
Hines has a robust redevelopment vision for the former Fisker Headquarters and
sought an Architecture and Interior Design team that could partner with them to “transform the [1970s office building] into one of the most unique and differentiated office environments in the Anaheim Canyon submarket.” Westgroup Designs was excited to take on the design challenge.
Westgroup Designs developed conceptual design options for the Canyon Corporate Center that would strengthen business outcomes for Hines, honing in on the goal of attracting flex-office and creative-office tenants. Specifically, WD proposed strategic improvements to interior and exterior spaces, with a focus on flexible tenant spaces, engaging common areas, place-making building facades and pedestrian-centric outdoor areas.
Hines and Westgroup Designs are immediately moving forward into design development with construction scheduled to commence later this year.
To learn more, read the Hines' press release here.
Read the original OCBJ article here.
For more Westgroup Designs updates, check us out on Instagram and Twitter.
Westgroup Designs’ new office transformed from commercial modern to the dapper twenties; with jazz musicians strumming and crooning, cards and dice in the casinos, and plenty of ritz to go around.
Looking stunning in their 1920’s attire, “men and women came and went like moths among the whisperings and the champagne and the stars” (F Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby). With a variety of activities, guests could gamble in the casinos, dance the night away with live music provided by a talented jazz trio, dabble in the dapper photobooth, and gaze into the future through WD’s 3D Virtual Reality ViewMaster.
Feathery, fringed, and dripping with pearls; the night replicated that of the Great Gatsby- rich in details and heaps of fun! To see more photos from the night, click here.
For more Westgroup Designs updates, check us out on Instagram and Twitter.
WD is at the finish line for construction for the San Diego International Airport Taxi Terminal and Offices, opening January 18, 2016. WD's design of the new building provides a space for the employees of the airport taxis and rental car buses to rest between shifts. It also acts as a connection for bus drivers to the airport. A key design feature includes an enclosed patio with a stainless steel ornamental screen, connecting both exterior and interior which allows for natural light to enter in. An oasis of landscaping around the building will provide a shelter from noise to create a place of tranquility for employees.
The new 3,700 sf building has separate break rooms for taxi and rental car bus drivers and training room for rental car bus drivers that overlooks the runway. In addition, the new airport taxi terminal changes taxi drivers' queue and payment systems for airport access, and provides a space for drivers to have access to the new Consolidated Car Rental Center (CONRAC). This center replaces 85 separate rental car buses with just 16 constantly circulating buses, which in return will clear out the airport traffic lanes, bettering the flow of the airport.
WD's resulting design enhances both the day-to-day working experience of employees and the airport's taxi and bus operations.
Students and staff at the Frank Bland Regional Training Center in San Bernardino will return to their training programs in an expanded, modern facility with state-of-the-art digital technology.
The Frank Bland Regional Training Center has provided essential law enforcement training to Sheriff’s Deputies and officers throughout the State since 1973. As a recognized leader in progressive law enforcement training by Peace Officer Standards and Training, or POST, the Training Center graduates an average of 300 students each year between its programs.
View the original article from San Bernardino County.
Students and faculty at Newcomb Academy in Long Beach will return to class Wednesday to a renovated campus with new features.
Newcomb Academy is the first K-8 school rebuilt as part of the Long Beach Unified School District’s Measure K bond program. The bond program has already created three new schools aside from significant infrastructure updates at different schools sites within the district.
View the original article from the Press Telegram
“I am thrilled and relieved that the State Allocation Board has provided facility hardship approvals under the Seismic Mitigation Program for La Quinta and Pacifica High Schools,” said Margaret Brown, Garden Grove USD’s Director of Facilities. “The State’s multi agency process for approving the plans and specifications is both demanding and complex. We need the best consultants working collaboratively to get the design right while meeting strict deadlines. Westgroup Designs led the team and was able to build consensus for a new design. These rebuilt schools will serve students and staff, as well as parents and the community, for decades to come.”
As part of Garden Grove USD’s facilities improvement efforts, Westgroup fast-track designed a total of 18 new buildings and six modernized existing buildings at La Quinta and Pacifica High Schools in order to meet the bi-annual deadline to secure AB 300 funds. In addition, the projects’ designs are strategically phased in construction as to not interrupt the day-to-day education activities of each campus.
In addition to their work with Garden Grove USD, Westgroup Designs is currently finishing construction of the $42 million Newcomb Academy from Long Beach USD that utilized $18 million of AB 300 funds.
Keys to the Success in Securing and Maximizing AB 300 Funds
1. DSA/OPSC Approvals – Successful approvals hinge on three core elements: trust relations, technical knowledge and funding knowledge. An architecture firm must have deep familiarity with government agencies, and a combination of both technical and funding knowledge enables the firm to effectively strategize the design process in order to maximize funding. With these three strengths, Westgroup’s in-house experts were able to negotiate with OPSC about funding concerns and strategically calculate the funds in accordance with the design.
2. Creative Design Solutions – Complex projects in need of fresh and modernized design elements must undergo strategic planning so as to expedite agency approvals. In order to fully aid Garden Grove USD, Westgroup created solutions that honed in on cost efficient design—not simplified design—in order to maximize the space of the campuses with the funding at hand.
3. Timing – Time is money, and transferring students to a different school or renting interim classrooms while facilities undergo construction is expensive and disruptive for educational delivery. Westgroup’s solution concentrated on a strategic, fast-track and complex phasing to rid the need of interim housing altogether, thereby allowing for day-to-day classroom activities to continue undisturbed.