The Mixed use project at 300 N. Central construction re-starts after 3-month interruption.

Westwood, Ca.

atelier V: architecture’s mixed use project at 300 N. Central re-started work on construction after a 3 month delay due to a redesign resulting from an added Roof Garden.  ”The Client called and mentioned that the competition in the area is adopting roof gardens and we needed to have one to compete!”  Says Mark Vaghei, AIA, atelier V’s Principal in charge of Design.  Once live loads and additional structures were added to the roof, the entire structural frame of the project needed to be re-evaluated.  This resulted in stopping the order for steel and re-designing of the steel structure at the ground floor of the building, thereby requiring entirely new set of steel shop drawings.  The entire process of re-design and fabrication added 3 months to the project schedule.  ”At the end of the day , the addition of the roof garden was entirely worth it!, now the residents have another place to gather, barbecue  enjoy the view, take their dog for a run and relax” Says Mark Vaghei, AIA.  This is all in addition to making the project more competitive in the hotly contested Glendale rental market.  While making the addition of the Roof Garden, The Ownership also decided to configure the lower level Live-Work units differently and turn them into pure stand-alone commercial units thereby eliminating the stair connection of each unit to its associated living space on the second floor.  During the time that passed from the early entitlement period to construction, evidently the market forces saw the need for pure commercial space as a priority over Live-Work space.

We are all very glad to see the project back on the construction footing.  Presently as you can see in the pictures from late September, the Steel is going up and soon the decking and the project will be ready for its 5-levels of wood framing.

Please go to www.atelierv.com  / projects/residential/300 N.Central to see more photos of the project.  Also, go to /work in progress/300 N. Central IC  to see the entire archive of the construction photos from the very beginning of the project’s construction cycle.