Archinect - News

The Sunset Strip may get a mini Las Vegas Sphere-ish display

2023-11-09T17:45:00-05:00

A new spherical LED billboard display appears ready to grace Los Angeles’ Sunset Boulevard as planners are preparing to review a developer proposal for "The Sphere on Sunset" entertainment venue in West Hollywood.

Urbanize LA was first to report on the Las Vegas Sphere-like structure before it goes up for review in front of the West Hollywood Planning Commission's Design Review Subcommittee today (November 9).

The project would culminate at 8410 Sunset Boulevard. Its brief calls for the demolition of an existing café at the site, an outdoor video display, and construction of a 49-foot wide sphere and a 2,460-square-foot building to be used partially for podcast production. A new 2,400-square-foot pedestrian plaza and 1,350-square-foot roof terrace/viewing platform will be enacted as well. Los Angeles’ SAEE Studio is listed as the architect.

Image courtesy SAEE Studio

The project hopes to follow in the 516-foot-wide footsteps of the wildly successful Las Vegas Sphere, which has drawn...

Arquitectonica's 8850 Sunset development gets a revised look

2023-05-10T16:47:00-04:00

Arquitectonica has released an update to its previously proposed redevelopment project at 8850 Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood.

The former site of the notorious Viper Room will now feature an increased number of affordable housing units and market-rate condos while retaining its planned 5-star hotel component, which has been reduced from 113 to 90 rooms.

8850 Sunset Boulevard. Image courtesy Arquitectonica

The revised concept also comes in a new envelope with curved balcony decks and one less full story. The Viper Room itself will be revised and expanded to meet “today’s entertainment standards” with a memorabilia display, upgraded stage, better soundproofing, and a recording studio all included inside. LED mesh window coverings appear also to have been removed from the updated facade.

8850 Sunset Boulevard. Image courtesy Arquitectonica

Also part of the update is an added public plaza at street level and breezeway connected to a new “park-like” interior courtyard at the center of ...

The plot containing Frank Gehry's 8150 Sunset mixed-user is up for grabs in Hollywood

2023-01-19T12:22:00-05:00

This month, listings appeared on multiple websites advertising the 2.5-acre property at 8150 Sunset Boulevard as being for sale. The now vacant lot, which sits at Sunset's intersection with Crescent Heights Boulevard, is the former site of the Garden of Allah, and more recently, the Lytton Savings Building.

The amended plan includes a retail center and residential tower with 38 total units of affordable housing divided into two sculptural volumes that straddle a 2.5-acre plot. Once developed, it will join Gehry’s similarly-designed Ocean Avenue Project and the 45-story The Grand LA as the latest Gehry Partners mixed-use projects to grace the Los Angeles area this decade. The assessor’s estimate for the Sunset property was $14.75 million.

Arquitectonica replaces Morphosis on the former 'Viper Room' Sunset Strip redevelopment

2022-03-04T15:10:00-05:00

A significant change has been made in the redevelopment of West Hollywood's landmark Viper Room as an originally-planned design from Morphosis has been nixed in favor of a more conservative scheme from Miami-based Arquitectonica.

The previous design team had originally anticipated breaking ground on a much-maligned twin-volume scheme this year with an end date expected for 2025. As of now, there is no word as to a cause for the change in direction from Silver Creek Development Co. available to the press.

Rendering of the previously proposed 8850 Sunset Boulevard development. Image courtesy of Morphosis/Kilograph.

Updated plans reveal a more colorful, pared-down design that is more in keeping with other commercial and residential developments located along WeHo's 8- and 9000 blocks of Sunset Boulevard. The new 12-story building features a lively rooftop space atop a mixed-used program defined by a south-facing setback and terraced facade with LED-lit mesh window coverings and a host o...

Morphosis-designed 8850 Sunset Boulevard releases environmental study, updated project timeline

2021-09-20T12:03:00-04:00

An updated timeline for the controversial 8850 Sunset Boulevard development has been provided along with new draft environmental study detailing changes to the West Hollywood site.

According to its developers, construction of the Morphosis-designed building is now set to begin in 2022 with a completion date slated for 2025, nearly a full year off of the project’s timeline when last updated in September of 2019.

The planned 15-story hotel and apartment development features a split design, united by a skybridge that helps to separate the volumes and frame a 120-foot-wide opening adjacent to Los Angeles’ famed Viper Room nightclub.

The updated timeline still requires approval from the city of West Hollywood. Archinect will have more details once a groundbreaking date is announced.

Updates to Frank Gehry's Sunset Strip mixed-user revealed

2020-12-03T15:57:00-05:00

Architect Frank Gehry has unveiled a revised design for 8150 Sunset - a proposed mixed-use housing complex near the eastern terminus of the Sunset Strip. The project [...] calls for the construction of two mid-rise structures containing 203 residential units - a portion of which would be set aside as workforce and affordable housing - above 57,300 square feet of ground-floor retail space.

Gehry's ongoing 8150 Sunset project in Los Angeles first appeared on Archinect in March 2015 with initial renderings following in August that year.

Urbanize Los Angeles reports that the revised design was the result of conditions of approval imposed by LA's City Council in 2016.

For comparison, here's the initially proposed design published in 2015:

Residents despise proposed Morphosis' Sunset Strip development

2019-10-14T11:30:00-04:00

The Morphosis-designed Sunset Strip development Viper Rooms recently sparked much debate among Archinectors, and now it has ignited further dispute among WeHo residents. "Residents erupted in anger when West Hollywood city staffers announced Thursday night that the aesthetics of a Morphosis-designed redevelopment of the Viper Room on the Sunset Strip would not be considered in a state-mandated environmental analysis," reports Curbed LA.

The backlash came at a public community meeting held by the city of West Hollywood "to update the residents on the project, review the environmental impact report process, and get feedback from the community." But, it's tough to get feedback when the majority of participants detest the proposed design. According to Curbed LA, only one of the thirty people in attendance approved of the design.

The majority, however, feel that the avant-garde look doesn't "belong on Sunset Boulevard," but "could be in Dubai or Vegas." Moreover, it appears that due to s...

Morphosis-designed Sunset Strip development: timeline details emerge

2019-09-23T15:30:00-04:00

According to an initial study distributed by the City of West Hollywood, construction of the proposed development - which is being called 8850 Sunset Boulevard - is anticipated to begin in May 2021. Work would conclude after approximately 32 months, with project delivery expected in February 2024.

The exuberant 15-story mixed-use development on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood first emerged as a new proposal in December 2018.

Urbanize LA has now shared more refined project details for 8850 Sunset Boulevard, including a proposed timeline with an anticipated kick-off in May 2021.

Morphosis unveils wild new design for a hotel to be built on the infamous Viper Room site on Sunset Strip

2018-12-17T14:47:00-05:00

The project, which would rise at 8850-8878 Sunset Boulevard, calls for the construction of a 15-story building featuring 115 guest rooms, ground-floor commercial space, and various guest amenities. The proposed development would also incorporate 31 condominiums, 10 units of affordable housing, and parking for up to 300 vehicles.

The 15-story, 200-foot-tall design is composed of two drastically different volumes separated by a large open gap. The volume on the east side of the lot appears to be a relatively standard steel and glass orthogonal structure, while the form on the west side of the lot is a highly articulated, fluid structure that brings Zaha Hadid's forms to mind. The base of the two structures in the concept design rendering appears to provide some outdoor space, perhaps an outdoor amphitheater, above the ground floor commercial level.

Frank Gehry's Sunset Strip mixed-user unanimously approved by L.A. City Council

2016-11-03T13:17:00-04:00

the developer, Townscape Partners, agreed to reduce its tallest tower to 178 feet and add more affordable housing and more parking spaces. It will also provide $2 million to ease traffic congestion. The project will have 229 residential units, including 38 for low-income families. There will be 65,000 square feet of commercial space and a pedestrian plaza.

When Gehry's Sunset Strip development was approved by the L.A. City Planning Commission last August, the plan called for 28 affordable housing units (15% of the total stock)—a number that some at the Commission meeting were concerned set a "low bar" for a development of its size, stature and density (especially given the city's ongoing housing crisis).

The City Council's approval came with 10 more affordable housing units—approximately 17% of the total stock. The entire project includes two residential towers, a shopping center and gardens.

Related on Archinect:

Frank Gehry's Sunset Strip mixed-user approved by LA City Planning Commission, with 15% affordable units

2016-08-01T18:11:00-04:00

[John Irwin, one of the project's developers, noted:] "This is the right direction for development in L.A., embracing both the benefits of good planning—as well as a commitment to providing affordable housing at varying income levels, which we have agreed to increase” [...] Ryu’s Chief of Staff Sarah Dusseault argued before the commissioners that setting such a low bar for affordable housing would set a bad precedent as the city is in the midst of an affordable housing crisis.

More Frank on Archinect:

Frank Gehry's renderings for L.A.'s Sunset Strip revealed

2015-08-26T15:00:00-04:00

Initial renderings of the $300 million development depict a cluster of five architecturally distinct buildings distributed across the 2.6- acre site around a central plaza. In total, the project will comprise 333,600 square feet, and have 249 residential units. One of the architects’ primary goals was to make the site as approachable as possible to invite the surrounding community in to shop, dine, or simply relax in the plaza.

Renderings and model photos were released today of Frank Gehry's proposed design for the 8150 Sunset Boulevard project. Positioned at the so-called Gateway to the Sunset Strip at the curving intersection of Crescent Heights Boulevard, Havenhurst Drive and Sunset Boulevard, Gehry's mixed-use, three-story retail center and 11-story residential tower (which is expected to achieve LEED silver status) emphasizes pedestrian access and preserving Sunset's relatively low streetscape:

Gehry reportedly said of the project, “[Residents and future visitors] should feel that they are part of L.A., a part of L.A. that has a culture that comes with it.”

New Gehry mixed-user in the works at "gateway to the Sunset Strip"

2015-03-09T19:22:00-04:00

That unattractive strip mall on the corner of Sunset and Crescent Heights boulevards ... will be razed in favor of a Frank Gehry-designed mixed-use development [...] The state last year deemed the project to be L.A. County's first California Environmental Leadership Development Project. To qualify developments must see at least $100 million in investment, achieve LEED Silver certification or better, and emit zero net greenhouse gases.