The Burbank Studios Lot Redevelopment

Project Details

Project Description

FROM THE ARCHITECTS:

The site is located in Burbank, California, between Olive/Alameda Avenues and the 134 Freeway. The 37-acre site has approximately 900,000+sf in existing buildings that formerly housed NBC Studios. The project will transform the site from a single user studio lot to an independent production studio lot with the ability to house multiple tenants, adding up to 1 million gsf in additional sound stages, office, production space, and other support facilities. The goal is create a more desirable work environment for the studio lot, in addition to being able to provide all facilities for a production company on site.

Master Plan
The Master plan design process for The Burbank Studios Lot began with a thorough investigation of the existing property and facilities. All of the existing uses were mapped by program type and by user group to determine how the existing facilities were being used, and if efficiencies could be gained. Existing program uses, circulation, parking, and security were analyzed.

The analysis was used to develop a framework for a master plan for the transformation of The Burbank Studios Lot.

Multiple configurations for the massing allowed by the existing Design Agreement were studied to arrive at the most logical site response considering the prominent freeway location, existing facility uses and locations on-site, existing land leases, below grade parking requirements, and necessity for a phased development.

Architectural Design Concept
In the early and mid twentieth century, the film and television industry began building new facilities never before seen. The studio lots, while not public, took on the quality of becoming the civic monuments for the grand era of Hollywood. Since that time, the presence of the studio lot in our urban landscape has started to recede to the background. The Burbank Studios Lot is centered in the middle of Burbank’s Media District along a major freeway. This represents an opportunity to establish a 21^st century landmark, to try and recapture the grandeur that studio lots held in the urban landscape during the heyday of Hollywood.

The project site is located in the heart of the Burbank Media District with nearly a ¼ mile frontage along the 134 Freeway. This condition is an opportunity to create a different type of identity for The Burbank Studios. The master plan for The Burbank Studios has been organized to be phased, with floorplates that allow for a variety of tenants and organization, but with a single goal of creating the highest quality office space. The massing of the Burbank Studios integrates these conditions to create a unique response to the site. On the freeway side, the goal is to create a singular moment that reacts to the speed of the passing cars. Driving past the building, the façade establishes a dynamic rhythm by breaking down its scale in both horizontal and vertical directions. As a crystalline façade, the varied angles of glass planes play with the light, creating the overall impression of icebergs. The phasing of the project is integral to this concept, so the project will look complete at any point of phasing. The façade will create a new, strong and unique identity for the project and tenant in the center of Burbank.

On the studio side, the building breaks down into smaller scale elements that step down to the existing studio lot, and use multiple materials. Metal facades with large openings act as a counterpoint to the completely glazed facades of the freeway side. The articulation and relief of the metal façade conveys a dignity reminiscent of historic Hollywood studio architecture. The punched windows introduce a scale appropriate to the activities and life on the studio side. The majority of the open space and landscape is placed at the same grade as the existing studio lot to create a strong pedestrian connection between existing and new. The stepping creates opportunity for elevated outdoor spaces directly adjacent to office areas. The freeway side of the building creates an acoustic barrier protecting these outdoor spaces. The design approach to the freeway and studio elevations allows the project to be understood as The Burbank Studios as a whole, while retaining opportunities for smaller scale identities for individual companies or divisions. The massing approach results in a variety of floor plate sizes ranging from approximately 39,000gsf to 57,000gsf in each building. On the first two levels, the floor plates in each building could be combined into a single open floorplate of about 110,000gsf per level. On the third level, the two buildings are connected via an outdoor open space. This variety of floor plate size and combination allows flexibility for the interior programming of a large number and range of companies/divisions.