2024-11-21T13:01:51-05:00 https://archinect.com/news/article/150287040/montalba-is-making-over-edward-durell-stone-s-iconic-9720-wilshire-building Josh Niland 2021-11-02T13:56:00-04:00 >2024-10-25T04:07:38-04:00 <img src="https://archinect.gumlet.io/uploads/9f/9f1b1176e5fa42a46144d7c3fbc3f4cd.jpeg?fit=crop&auto=compress%2Cformat&enlarge=true&w=1200" border="0" /><p>A Beverly Hills icon is getting a long overdue facelift thanks to a top-notch local firm.</p> <p>Santa Monica-based <a href="https://archinect.com/montalbaarchitects" target="_blank">Montalba Architects</a> is behind a newly announced renovation that will transform the former Pacific Mercantile Bank building, an eight-story office tower on Wilshire Boulevard by New Formalist master <a href="https://www.laconservancy.org/locations/home-federal-savingspacific-mercantile-bank-building" target="_blank">Edward Durell Stone</a>.</p> <figure><p><a href="https://archinect.gumlet.io/uploads/da/dadfd4db9a4ca028695a8902dc87901e.jpeg?auto=compress%2Cformat&amp;enlarge=true&amp;w=1028" target="_blank"><img src="https://archinect.gumlet.io/uploads/da/dadfd4db9a4ca028695a8902dc87901e.jpeg?auto=compress%2Cformat&amp;enlarge=true&amp;w=514"></a></p><figcaption>Image courtesy Montalba Architects</figcaption></figure><p>Stone was the architect of the Ahmanson Center and responsible for several other midcentury commercial developments on Wilshire Boulevard that have become synonymous with the <a href="https://archinect.com/features/article/150277201/reyner-banham-is-los-angeles-the-architecture-of-four-ecologies-at-50" target="_blank">visual landscape of Los Angeles</a> thanks to artists like Ed Ruscha and&nbsp;<a href="https://americanart.si.edu/artwork/savings-and-loan-building-76280" target="_blank">David Hockney.</a>&nbsp;<br></p> <figure><p><a href="https://archinect.gumlet.io/uploads/de/dea7637552fb693a94de79bc29450bb4.jpeg?auto=compress%2Cformat&amp;enlarge=true&amp;w=1028" target="_blank"><img src="https://archinect.gumlet.io/uploads/de/dea7637552fb693a94de79bc29450bb4.jpeg?auto=compress%2Cformat&amp;enlarge=true&amp;w=514"></a></p><figcaption>Image courtesy Montalba Architects</figcaption></figure><p>The building&rsquo;s characteristic Romanesque facade will remain untouched as the fronting fountain and plaza area are reimagined in order to make space for a &ldquo;sunken garden&rdquo; that allows the architects to activate its previously unused basement substructure. Interior renovations will be made using a &ldquo;reserved palette of materials that harken th...</p>