Archinect - News

Take a look at the renderings for First and Broadway Park in Los Angeles

2017-05-30T13:56:00-04:00

Back in June of 2016, Mia Lehrer + Associates won the competition, beating out Eric Owen Moss Architects, Brooks + Scarpa, and AECOM, to design the two-acre park at First Street and Broadway. After winning the competition, the firm has taken suggestions from the Downtown community, altering their plans for the design. Settling on a greener approach, the new plan reserves roughly 10,000 square feet as green "meadow" space.

The original plan featured a two-story structure, designed by OMA, that would host a restaurant on the second floor and below, an outdoor amphitheater and cafe. While the structure will remain, the new designs include a rooftop deck and shade structure.

The park is expected to cost $28 million, and will be fully funded through Quimby fees, fees imposed on developers for the creation of public parks. The landscape architecture firm known for being one of the driving forces behind the 2007 Los Angeles River Revitalization Master Plan will continue to work on plans fo...

Take a look at these bold visions for Downtown LA's next park

2016-02-24T14:26:00-05:00

LA has few corners as prominent as First and Broadway. Directly adjacent to the art deco City Hall and across from the LA Times building, the nearly-2 acre lot stands at the center of an increasingly well-trafficked pedestrian area. Now, some of the biggest names in town are competing to transform the lot into a bold new park.

After a wider call for proposals, the LA Bureau of Engineering, in conjunction with the Mayor's Office, announced a shortlist of finalists late last year: AECOM, Brooks + Scarpa Architects, Eric Owen Moss Architects, and Mia Lehrer + Associates in collaboration with OMA. Each practice was given six weeks to produce a design, which are currently of public view.

Soon, the City will announce the winners of the competition, following input from the public, and then will proceed to finalize the designs.

Since the new park abuts the larger Grand Park (designed by Rios Clementi Hale Studios), it needs to both stand out as a unique design and seamlessly mesh with the exi...