Century Plaza
This revitalization of Century Plaza builds on the original vision of Minoru Yamasaki by complementing his iconic twin office towers and original hotel with a new set of twin residential towers.
The design extends and dramatizes the visual axis established by the orientation of Yamasaki’s twin office towers toward his earlier hotel. Along this central axis through the property, a new sequence of spaces constitute Century Plaza’s most important contribution to the public realm.
These spaces include a new Avenue of the Stars Entry Plaza; the Lobby Breezeway, a loggia-like central gathering place; the Gardens of Century Plaza, a landscaped public square surrounded by retail shops at plaza level and the podium gardens above; Constellation Plaza, providing access to the lower level of retail shops; and the continuation of retail frontage east along Constellation Boulevard. This carefully crafted sequence of public spaces is bold in its ambitions, intended to create an urban scene of a quality rarely encountered in the contemporary city.
Show Facts
Site
Century Plaza Hotel property, a 6.13-acre urban site in Century City, Los Angeles
Components
1,090,000 ft2 / 101,000 m2 gross area; Park Elm at Century Plaza: two residential towers with condominium units, retail space; landscaped parks and plazas; onsite parking; existing Century Plaza hotel renovation by Marmol Radziner; hotel interior renovation by Gensler
Client
Next Century Associates, LLC
PCF&P Services
Master planning, architecture, exterior envelope, interior design of public spaces
Sustainability
Designed & registered for LEED Silver certification
lead designers
Henry N. Cobb
Roy G. Barris
Awards
Design Award
Society of American Registered Architects, New York Council, 2024
Los Angeles Architectural Awards: Chairman's Award
Los Angeles Business Council, 2014
The new towers rise from a richly detailed, stone-clad podium of lower buildings animated by shops and cafés, shaping public space at a scale sympathetic and inviting to pedestrians.
Site plan
Retail frontage terminates at the proposed entrance to the future Metro Purple Line station, where a circular retail pavilion defines a small pocket park surrounded by a sweeping water wall.
Project Credits
Architect of Record for Hotel, Plaza, and Podium: Gensler, Los Angeles; Architect of Record for Residences: Harley Ellis Devereaux, Los Angeles; Preservation Architect: Marmol Radziner & Associates, Los Angeles; Landscape: Rios Clementi Hale Studio, Los Angeles; Structural: Englekirk Structural Engineers, Los Angeles; Mechanical / Electrical / Plumbing: Syska Hennessy Group, Culver City; Architectural Lighting: Horton Lees Brogden, Culver City, CA; Images: Pei Cobb Freed & Partners, Eric Staudenmaier