5788 W Adams
Creative Workplace, Four Levels
Los Angeles, California
RAC · Project Designer · 2019

5788 W Adams is a ground-up creative workplace shaped around openness, material warmth, and a strong relationship between interior and exterior space. Set along Adams Boulevard in West Adams, the 14,026-square-foot building brings together workspaces, an attached café, patios, and outdoor areas within a four-level volume.

Developed while at RAC Design Build, the project involved working closely with project team members and consultants from design through documentation and construction. The role of Project Designer moved between the larger organization of the building and the smaller details required to make it work, including space planning, drawing development, architectural detailing, material and fixture coordination, construction specifications, consultant coordination, permitting, and City review.

The materiality focused on warmth through redwood, steel, glass, and concrete, using texture, natural light, and contrast to bring a softer, more poetic quality to the spaces. One of the more involved technical aspects was the LID planter and stormwater system. Water was directed from the roof through gutters, downspouts, scuppers, and a sequence of planters, creating a controlled path as it moved from the upper levels through the building. The system required the roof, planters, drainage, waterproofing, structure, landscaping, and cistern location to be coordinated together.

Together, these systems supported the larger intent of the project, creating a workplace where architecture, landscape, and everyday use feel closely connected.