CMU Profiles in Architecture - Volume 2 Number 6

PAN PACIFIC PARK
RECREATION CENTER

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA

JURY COMMENTS: The Jury loved the playfulness of the center and how it “Exploited the use of the materials.” The curving walls are very appealing and the horizontal accent striping is very well done. The glass block used to emit natural light is especially appealing at night.

This recreation center occupies the site of the former Pan Pacific Auditorium that burned down in the late 1980’s, which architecturally and culturally represented a significant part of Los Angeles history. The City of Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks required that the new recreation center be designed in the spirit of the former Pan Pacific Auditorium.

Other design considerations for this project, placed on it by the City of Los Angeles Recreation and Parks Department, other City Departments and adjacent homeowners, were programmatic materials and a tight budget. As this project fronts a busy retail street it was important that this facility extend the park to the street and the street to the park, tying the two together.

o address these considerations, the mass of the building was broken down to avoid the typical “big box gym” in the park. The building and the landscaping were woven together. A tower feature, an abstraction of one of the original four ticket booth towers from the Pan Pacific Auditorium, was placed at the entrance of the center to signify it as the main entrance to the building.

The major building material for this structure is concrete masonry. All the exterior walls and the majority of the interior walls consist of split-face block and precision block with a single score. The serpentine and curving walls, which are used to break down the mass of the building and tie the building into the park, consist of all straight 8-inch by 8-inch block cut on the radius. Glass windows were prohibited from use do to security concerns; so glass block was used to emit natural light and was incorporated into concrete masonry block compositions. Internally, the concrete masonry block was used with reinforced concrete to create cantilever projections and flat arches in the lobby. Concrete masonry block used in conjunction with steel beams was used to create some of the major openings and the large curving light well above the information area.

ARCHITECT:

Jeffrey M. Kalban and Associates
10780 Santa Monica Blvd., Suite 120
Los Angeles, CA 90025

Jeffrey M. Kalban
Design Principal

Alain Sabbagh
Project Architect

OWNER:

City of Los Angeles, Department of Recreation and Parks

H O M E