Archinect - News

AO honored with ‘AO Day’ in Orange, California, for 50th anniversary

2024-03-28T17:53:00-04:00

Yesterday, March 27th, saw a special celebration of AO (formerly Architects Orange) in the city of Orange, California, in recognition of the 50th anniversary of their founding.

The practice was honored by the city and Mayor Dan Slater with "AO Day" in recognition of their award-winning work and dedication to community building locally. The celebration comes after a recent bid for what would be North America’s tallest building in Oklahoma City, commissioned by Orange County-based developer Scot Matteson, has placed them in the international spotlight.

Related: Archinect's coverage of the 1,907-foot Legends Tower proposal in Oklahoma City, which AO designed.

The firm was founded by Orange High School graduate Jack Selman in 1974, shortly after finishing his studies at the University of California, Berkeley. Since rebranding in 2019, the organization has become the largest architecture firm in Orange County, as well as one of its largest overall employers. AO now operates offices in s...

Explore images of Shubin Donaldson’s completed restoration of Richard Neutra’s Mariners Medical Arts building in Orange County

2024-01-05T09:00:00-05:00

An overlooked design from one of Southern California’s most respected midcentury designers, Richard Neutra’s Mariners Medical Arts building in Newport Beach, California, was restored thanks to Los Angeles-based ShubinDonaldson.

The project for client Burnham-Ward Properties sought to bring the three-pavilion design as close to its original appearance as possible. Key elements include the re-installation of water features that had been removed in the early 1970s.

Image © Benny Chan/fotoworks 2023

ADA accessibility upgrades, new drought-resilient landscaping, LED lighting, and other environmental improvements were equally vital in achieving the developer’s aim to once again establish Neutra’s design as an architectural superlative of the Orange County enclave.

All images: © Benny Chan/fotoworks 2023

“Having admired Mariners Medical Arts for decades, it has been an honor for me to be part of the team trusted to restore the building as originally designed by Neutra,” Shubin Donaldson Pr...

Five unique workspace projects by ShubinDonaldson: Your Next Employer?

2023-05-22T13:28:00-04:00

Following last week’s visit to Culver City-based Johnson Favaro, we are keeping our Meet Your Next Employer series in California this week to explore the work of ShubinDonaldson.

Led by partners Russell Shubin, Robin Donaldson, and Mark Hershman, the firm comprises 40 staff spread across offices in Culver City, Santa Barbara, and Orange County. Describing their approach as being “informed by modernism, craft, and a culture of experimentation,” the firm’s portfolio spans mixed-use, workplace, retail, multifamily, and custom residential typologies.

Over on Archinect Jobs, the firm is currently hiring a Project Coordinator for commercial projects to join its Culver City office. For candidates interested in applying for the position, or anybody interested in learning more about the studio’s work, we have rounded up five workplaces by ShubinDonaldson that demonstrate their design approach.

3101 West Coast Highway

Located at Mariner’s Mile in Newport Beach, CA, ShubinDonaldson’s project a...

SWA unveils plans for new 1,200-acre park in Irvine, California

2023-04-28T13:57:00-04:00

A new master plan led by SWA Group has been revealed by the city of Irvine, California, showcasing a park design that, at 1,200 acres, would create one of the largest municipal park environments in the nation.

The so-called Irvine Great Park would transform the site of the historic former Marine Corps’ El Toro Air Station into what could evolve into a new national landmark for the 3.16 million residents of Orange County replete with educational offerings, modern sport and recreation facilities, and cultural attractions.

The framework SWA developed in unison with Kellenberg Studio calls for a five-zone subdivision of the site. A 200-acre Sports Park, Cultural Terrace, 60-acre Botanical Garden, and Veteran’s Memorial Park will join a linear park called the Bosque that features trails and a children’s play area. A central “Heart of the Park” zone completes the spatial design, featuring the 12,000-seat Great Park Amphitheater, a farm, and a three-tiered, 22-acre system of small lakes.

A...

Meet Paul McClean, LA’s 'megamansion king': Your Next Employer?

2023-04-24T10:52:00-04:00

Following last week’s visit to New York-based Float Studio, we are moving our Meet Your Next Employer series to Orange, California this week, where we meet McClean Design.

Founded by Paul McClean in 2000, the firm has since grown to 15 architects, designers, and administration staff, specializing in the design of contemporary homes. The firm describes its ethos as “innovate; sophisticate; simplify,” while The Irish Times in 2021 described Dublin-born Paul McClean as LA’s “megamansion king” for the firm’s design of multi-million dollar homes such as The One, Bel Air.

Over on Archinect Jobs, the firm is currently hiring for an Intermediate Architect / 3D Visualization Artist. For candidates interested in applying for a position, or anybody interested in learning more about life at an architecture studio, we spoke with the team at McClean Design for a behind-the-scenes look at the firm.

Laurel Way II by McClean Design. Image credit: Manolo Langis

How did McClean Design get started?

Aft...

10 featured architecture job opportunities in Orange County, California

2023-02-04T11:34:00-05:00

If you are looking for architectural job opportunities in Southern California's sun-kissed Orange County, check out this week's curated employment highlight with a selection of current openings from Archinect Jobs for architects, interior designers, project managers, and visualization specialists.

To study up on specific job titles from the architectural profession, consult Archinect's Guide to Job Titles series. Also, follow our Archinect Tips series to improve your portfolio, resume, interviewing skills, and increase your overall chances of getting that next job.

Brandon Architects, Inc. seeks a 3D Render Artist in Costa Mesa
"BRANDON ARCHITECTS is seeking an 3D Render Artist to join our team in creating high-end residential, commercial and hospitality projects. This is a full-time position with opportunities for growth in an extremely collaborative, design studio atmosphere. Interested candidates must be authorized to work in the United States and in-person at Brandon Architects H...

'Shop of horrors': Oliver Wainwright reviews Morphosis' newly-opened Orange County Museum of Art

2022-12-13T17:20:00-05:00

Nowhere is the gulf between digital promise and physical fact more spectacularly evident than at the new Orange County Museum of Art (OCMA) in California [...] Almost a generation in the making, it feels like the final death rattle of a bygone age, the last gasp of an era preoccupied with novel form for form’s sake. Perhaps it is fitting that this flimsy, paper-thin architecture is held together with tape.

The Guardian critic paid a visit to the new museum building to offer a thoroughly dejecting assessment based on what he observed to be a disorienting entrance, confounding wayfinding system, atrium configuration, and defective cladding panels made necessary by a “performative shell” that has come to be an “expensive and elaborate” trope of its designers.

Morphosis partner-in-charge Brandon Welling claimed the firm was pushed into its October completion date and is still going through its punch list of small details that will complete the design, which Wainwright called a “$94 [million] hymn to the difference between render and reality.”

“I have no interest in completing projects,” says Thom Mayne - too bad for the Orange County Museum of Art https://t.co/RIvHSkUuZE pic.twitter.com/RdYTpOSVSo
— Olly Wainwright (@ollywainwright) December 13, 2022

Builders for the project pinned some of the issues on supply chain delays and said some of the hastily assembled stopgaps like tape and sof...

First photos of Morphosis' soon-to-open Orange County Museum of Art

2022-09-29T13:06:00-04:00

With a grand opening just a little over a week away, the Orange County Museum of Art (OCMA) has revealed the latest photos of its Morphosis-designed new South Coast home in the beachfront community of Costa Mesa.

Located on the campus of the Segerstrom Center for the Arts, the 53,000-square-foot museum will be inaugurated with five special exhibitions and 24-hour celebrations to honor the work that went into its design and three-year-long construction.

“The OCMA design represents a new model for museums based on public, urban, communal spaces with strong connections between interior and exterior,” Morphosis principals Thom Mayne and Brandon Welling shared.

Photo: Mike Kelley

“Engaging the urban realm with a public stair and ‘storefront’ galleries, the design invites visitors through sunlit atrium spaces, open galleries and an expansive sculpture terrace. The strong relationship in the building between indoor and outdoor space will encourage visitors to immerse themselves in the cele...

MVRDV and IBI Group among designers to turn former Marine Corps base into an expansive cultural hub in Southern California

2022-01-28T15:33:00-05:00

A diverse consortium of architects has been announced for a massive new development called Cultural Terrace on the site of the former Marine Corps Air Station El Toro in Irvine, California led by IBI Group and MVRDV.

The firms will be joined by landscape architects Agency Artifact and the local women-run studio MAAM, with engineers from Buro Happold and Ryder Levett Bucknall serving in a consulting role.

Interior view of one of the existing military buildings. Image © IBI Group.

The 4,682-acre base was once home to Major League Baseball great Ted Williams, who was a Marine Corps aviator from 1943 until the end of the Korean War. The government deactivated El Toro in 1999, and it has since been converted into a popular TV and film location, as well as a fledgling public park, which the new development hopes to reinvigorate.

Exact uses for the Cultural Terrace are still being determined, but the 110-acre parcel of the Great Park may evolve in time to play host to a museum, library and...

Morphosis releases new construction photos of the Orange County Museum of Art, one year ahead of its opening date

2021-10-08T13:45:00-04:00

Exactly a year before its opening, the new Morphosis-designed Orange County Museum of Art is sharing images and a construction update for the project that first broke ground in September of 2019.

Image © Aleksey Kondratyev/Clark Construction

The $93 million addition to Costa Mesa’s Segerstrom Center for the Arts topped out a year ago this week and looks forward to its debut next year that is set to coincide with the return of the California Biennale 2022 curated by Elizabeth Armstrong, Essence Harden, and Gilbert Vicario.

Image © Aleksey Kondratyev/Clark Construction

Featuring twice the amount of gallery space as its former Newport Beach location, the 53,000-square-foot museum is anchored by a public plaza and accentuated by a massive roof terrace that serves as an extension of the galleries.

Image courtesy Morphosis Architects

A glass wall window on one side of the building will display temporary exhibitions across a variety of mediums, while undulating glazed terracotta panels giv...

Morphosis-designed Orange County Museum of Art expected to open in 2022

2021-06-16T14:43:00-04:00

The Orange County Museum of Art (OCMA) announced that its new $93 million building will open to the public on October 8, 2022 in time for the return of the California Biennial 2022 (CB22) exhibition.

The 53,000-square-foot facility was designed by Los Angeles-based, Pritzker Prize-winning architect Thom Mayne of Morphosis Architects. Breaking ground in September 2019, the new building will sit at the open public plaza at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa and will double the size of the museum’s former location. The California Biennial 2022 will be the inaugural exhibition at OCMA’s new home.

Previously on Archinect: Morphosis-designed Orange County Museum of Art tops out

“It is no coincidence that as we open a building defined by its innovative and forward-thinking design, we are also acknowledging OCMA’s important and pioneering foundation,” says new OCMA CEO and Director Heidi Zuckerman. “California has long been a wellspring of innovation and creativity, and CB22 ...

Morphosis-designed Orange County Museum of Art tops out

2020-10-05T16:04:00-04:00

One year after breaking ground in Costa Mesa, the Orange County Museum of Art's new home is scheduled to top out at an official ceremony at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts. OCMA, which is currently housed out of a temporary space at South Coast Plaza in Santa Ana, is slated to move into its new in 2021.

View this post on Instagram DYK: That the Orange County Museum of Art is moving to our campus?? Their new building is slated to open in 2021. Who else is excited for a new year and new art?!? #OCMA @ocmuseumofart
A post shared by Segerstrom Center for the Arts (@segerstromarts) on Sep 27, 2020 at 10:00am PDT

OCMA's new Costa Mesa home, designed by Morphosis Architects, previously on Archinect:

The virtual topping out ceremony can be followed live via the museum's Instagram on Tuesday, October 6 at 11 AM Pacific Time.

Morphosis-designed Orange County Museum of Art: construction update

2020-03-02T16:10:00-05:00

Five months after holding a ceremonial groundbreaking, the first signs of vertical construction are now visible at the new home of OCMA at Costa Mesa's Segerstrom Center for the Arts. [...] The approximately $73-million project expands OCMA's square footage by approximately 50 percent when compared to the museum's former home.

Designed by Morphosis Architects, the Orange County Museum of Art's new home at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa, Calif. appears to be making progress, according to a new construction photo published by Urbanized LA.

The new 52,000-square-foot building will nearly double OCMA's current exhibition space and provide expanded access to the institution's permanent collection of modern and contemporary art from Southern California and the Pacific Rim.

OCMA atrium. Image: Morphosis Architects.

"The overall design of the building addresses the need for museum space to be both flexible and functional as well as inviting and memorable," explains the project description from Morphosis Architects. "A spacious roof terrace, equivalent in size to 70 percent of the building’s footprint, serves as an extension of the galleries with open-air spaces that can be configured for installations, a sculpture garden, outdoor film screenings, or events."

The new OCMA destination is expected ...

Laguna Beach homeowners hit with $1-million fine over illegal seawall

2018-08-13T14:23:00-04:00

Environmentalists are celebrating a precedent-setting vote Thursday by the California Coastal Commission to tear down a seawall protecting an oceanfront home in Laguna Beach. After the previous owner received retroactive approval for the previously unpermitted seawall, Jeffrey and Tracy Katz bought the home on Victoria Beach. They performed an extensive remodel, which was completed in January and increased the value of the home from $14 million to $25 million.

Under the 1977 Coastal Act, beachfront properties are required to have substantial setbacks in order not to interfere with the natural flow of sand along the coast. Built in 1951, prior to the Act, the property in question was allowed to put up a seawall in 2005 under the condition it be removed if there was new development on the site.

Stating that the work done qualifies as repair and maintenance, the Katzes and their lawyer argued that the renovation, which had received city approval, did not require a commission permit. In the end, however, the commission was unanimous in their decision to punish the couple.

Morphosis reveals design for new Orange County Museum of Art in California

2018-06-04T15:57:00-04:00

Morphosis recently unveiled their design for the new Orange County Museum of Art (OCMA) in in Costa Mesa, CA. The design features a 52,000-square-foot building, nearly doubling the OCMA's current exhibition space and expanding access to museum's permanent collection of modern and contemporary art.

In the entrance lobby, light-filled atrium space is crossed by bridges to educational hall and mezzanine gallery spaces. Image: Morphosis Architects.

A grand outdoor public stair joins the building to Arts Plaza to the north, creating an inviting gathering space for pedestrians and visitors
to the museum and adjacent performing arts venues.

OCMA’s ground floor and mezzanine hold open, flexible galleries for permanent collection installations and temporary exhibitions. Image: Morphosis Architects.

The main floor of the new museum building will be dedicated to reconfigurable, open exhibition space supported by the mezzanine, black-box, and jewel-box galleries which will accommodate temporary a...

SPF:a unveils orange tree-inspired design for Anaheim Performing Arts Center in California

2018-02-19T19:44:00-05:00

After 20 years in the heart of Anaheim, California, the City National Grove of Anaheim venue will soon become the Anaheim Performing Arts Center. Today, SPF:a from Culver City unveiled their scheme for the new $500 million project.

For starters, the 500,000-square-foot campus will feature three theaters: a 2,000-seat concert hall, a 1,700-seat opera hall, and a 600-seat black box theatre. It'll also include a museum tower with an observatory set on a 24-foot podium, an outdoor amphitheater, a convention hall, office space, two restaurants, and lecture rooms.

Image courtesy of SPF:a.

The Anaheim Performing Arts Center in Anaheim, California by SPF:a. Image courtesy of SPF:a.

Featuring concentric circles and perforated copper-anodized cladding on the main structures, the campus pays tribute to Anaheim's agricultural history. After Anaheim's vineyards succumbed to disease in the late 19th century, the city invested in citriculture. “Anaheim’s socioeconomic drive...

500 Square Feet and Falling

2015-07-22T18:59:00-04:00

The trend toward living in less square footage isn't just about battling rent hikes: in Orange County, the able-bodied and financially resourceful are choosing to habitate (and sometimes co-habitate) in so-called micro or mini-apartments. Although the definition varies, anything below 500 square feet is generally considered to be on the petite side. The smaller appliances, constricted shelving, and overall compactness of these places requires spatial creativity and a Spartan materialism. According to the Orange County Register, nursing student and 475 square foot apartment dweller Cayla Alexander says of she and her husband, “We have three bowls and five plates. But when you really come down to it, do you need anything else?”

Perhaps the most extreme example of this trend is the My Micro NY, a complex of 55 apartments designed by nARCHITECTS in New York City that range in size from 260 to 370 square feet. According to CapsysCorps, the units make use of tall ceilings, large windows an...

Twenty teams listed for DOE Solar Decathlon 2015 at OC Great Park

2014-02-13T15:08:00-05:00

The Department of Energy revealed the 20 collegiate teams that will participate in the 2015 Solar Decathlon, which will take place at the OC Great Park in Irvine, CA once again.

Collegiate teams are given two years to build solar-powered, energy-efficient houses that are also affordable and show innovative design. The Department of Energy judges each team's project in 10 categories.

Twelve new teams and eight returners are listed to compete for 2015:

California Polytechnic State University
California State University, Sacramento
Clemson University
Crowder College and Drury University
Lansing Community College and Kendall College of Art and Design of Ferris State University
Missouri University of Science and Technology
New York City College of Technology
Oregon Institute of Technology and Portland State University
Stanford University
State University of New York at Alfred College of Technology and Alfred University
Stevens Institute of Technology
University of Florida, National University of Singa...

domæn ltd.'s NAN hints at Orange County's potential for more innovative design

2014-01-16T19:11:00-05:00

domæn ltd.'s remodel project "NAN" reminds us that an ordinary industrial warehouse is always full of refreshing design possibilities. Located on 1907 Nancita Circle in Placentia, CA, NAN shows off domæn's signature sharp lines and black-and-white color schemes that give the structure an edge over the area's numerous warehouses and the generally lackluster landscape of Orange County.

On the other hand, in addition to being a recent example of adaptive reuse, remodeling projects like NAN could be another sign of potential growth for the city of Placentia and its neighboring cities, which have been aiming towards economic revival in the past decade.

Below are more details to NAN that the architects shared with us:

"The NAN project seizes the opportunity to play on typical office configurations, and offers a lofty, industrial appearance. The exterior treatment follows the interior logic, taking advantage of the precast concrete facade and playing with contrasting textural qualitie...

Archinect Field Trip: Solar Decathlon 2013, Basking in Arrays of Energy Efficiency

2013-10-15T15:28:00-04:00

Plopped down on a former Marine Corp air station in the geographic middle of Orange County, nineteen solar-powered model homes line the runway to be judged in the U.S. Department of Energy’s 2013 Solar Decathlon. For its first year held away from the National Mall in Washington D.C., the Solar Decathlon was staged in Irvine’s Great Park, which while being an abandoned airstrip surrounded by farmland, housing developments and dirt, purports to be the “first major metropolitan park of the 21st century”. For ten days, collegiate teams from around the world showcased their houses for public tours and competition in ten categories that grade affordability, marketability, design and energy efficiency. Each team has architects and engineers (sometimes from multiple schools) collaboratively design and build a fully functional solar-powered home for their chosen environment.

What does the Department of Energy do with these winning designs once the competition is over? Anticlimactically, most ...

Solar Decathlon Relocates to Southern California

2012-01-26T17:14:00-05:00

At an event today in Albuquerque, New Mexico, U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced the 20 collegiate teams selected to compete in the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon 2013 and unveiled the competition’s location, the Orange County Great Park in Irvine, California.

The following teams have been selected from around the world to compete in Solar Decathlon 2013:

Arizona State University and the University of New Mexico (Tempe, Ariz., and Albuquerque, N.M.)
Czech Technical University (Prague, Czech Republic)
Hampton University and Old Dominion University (Hampton and Norfolk, Va.)
Middlebury College (Middlebury, Vt.)
Missouri University of Science and Technology (Rolla, Mo.)
Norwich University (Northfield, Vt.)
Queens University, Carleton University, and Algonquin College (Kingston and Ottawa, Ontario, Canada)
Santa Clara University (Santa Clara, Calif.)
Southern California Institute of Architecture and California Institute of Technology (Los Angeles, Calif.)
Stanford University (Palo Alto, Calif.)
Stevens Institute of Technology (Hoboken, N.J.)
The Catholic University of America, George Washington University, and American University (Washington, DC)
The University of North Carolina at Charlott...