With an initial phase dating to 1927, this 1.8 million sf building was originally Sears' west coast mail-order distribution center. It was steadily expanded in eight phased additions, with the final piece completed in 1970. Today, the building comprises at least seven conjoined but structurally independent volumes. Our highly complex design exposes and celebrates the course of the building's expansion, facilitated through the removal of about 150,000 sf of concrete and the insertion of nine new light courts, one between each of the building's original phases.

At the ground level, we designed 100,000 sf of interior retail space, adjacent to a spacious food hall flooded with light from newly created openings. Outside, we called for pop-up restaurants in restored boxcars on existing freight-railroad tracks. The second and third floors offer 200,000 sf of creative office space with 21-foot floor heights; upper floors hold 1,030 residential units with unimpeded views. For the 130,000 sf rooftop, we designed two pools, a gym, a theater, sports courts, a spa, and various gardens. We designed a restaurant inside the tower, topped by a single residential unit.