Servicon Systems Offices – Culver City
Edward Ogosta Architecture designed the new “Hangar Office” for building maintenance company Servicon Systems, located in Culver City, California.
The Hangar Office is a LEED Platinum-rated conversion of an obsolete storage warehouse into a modern training center. Set within a transitioning industrial neighborhood in the Culver City area of Los Angeles, this adaptive re-use project was commissioned by Servicon Systems, a company specializing in sustainable building maintenance services for aerospace industry clients such as Boeing, Northrop Grumman, and NASA. The Edward Ogosta Architecture design team, in a nod to the owner’s business, accordingly looked to the architecture of aircraft hangars as a conceptual touchstone for the project, which informed its industrial materials, generous interior space, exposed ceiling infrastructure, and minimal color palette.
Formally, the design is composed of just two components: a “Container”and a “Volume.”The dull warehouse shell was re-conceived as a purified white Container, cleaned of imperfections and retrofitted with a discreet systems infrastructure.Into this is inserted a bar-shaped Volume, clad in corrugated metal, that bifurcates the warehouse into solid/void and houses the project’s enclosed spaces. The Volume’s geometry is strategically extruded and subtracted to accommodate meeting rooms, study nooks, storage, and restrooms. The remaining warehouse void serves as a flexible multipurpose space accommodating up to 90 people for group activities, such as training sessions, receptions, gallery openings, and office-wide meetings. New skylights provide ample natural light, though retractable skylight shades and a hidden motorized theater curtain can completely darken the space for presentations. A variety of micro-scaled individual spaces and group-sized collective spaces are available, creating an interior atmosphere of ambient intensity.
The owner was exceptionally committed to investing in the highest sustainability measures, including: 227 roof-and carport-mounted photovoltaic panels, low-water landscaping, efficient mechanical systems, and a super-insulated building envelope.By resolving the client’s challenging sustainability and programmatic goals with an architecture of serene clarity, the project expresses a new optimism for the organization.
Designer: Edward Ogosta Architecture
Photography: Wundr Studio
