Project Description
This project was selected as a winner in AIA’s 2023 Architecture Awards.
Paul Revere Williams, the first African American member of AIA, originally designed the UCLA Pritzker Hall in 1967 with a Midcentury aesthetic that matched his well-known architectural lexicon. The building’s redesign—completed in 2020 by local firm CO Architects—builds upon Williams’ work while giving the university’s psychology department increased functionality.
The project prioritized accommodating the growing academic department by adding laboratory space for neuroscience research and classrooms, and improving exterior and interior spaces. When it came to the exterior, designers added new seating for gatherings, accessible entryways, and landscaping. The team also incorporated a new two-story curtain wall on the façade that integrates the previous design’s storefront aesthetic.
Inside, meanwhile, CO Architects worked to maintain Williams’ original style while also updating the building’s layout for contemporary needs. Midcentury design features, furnishings, and a neutral color palette permeate the revitalized space, which includes a new two-floor lobby, computer labs, conference rooms, and a graduate student lounge on the lower levels. On the upper floors, the architects redesigned offices for faculty with extra square footage and new windows that let in natural light.
PROJECT CREDITS
Project: UCLA Pritzker Hall Modernization, Los Angeles
Executive Architect: CO Architects
General Contractor: Rudolph and Sletten
MEP Engineer and LEED Consulting: Affiliated Engineers. Inc.
Structural Engineer: KPFF Consulting Engineers
Civil Engineer: KPFF Consulting Engineers
Landscape Design: Studio-MLA
Lighting: KGM Architectural Lighting
Acoustical and Audio/Visual Consultant: Waveguide
Environmental Graphics: SKA Design
Preservation Architect: Page & Turnbull
Size: 82,000 square feet
This article first appeared in the May/June 2023 issue of ARCHITECT.
FROM THE ARCHITECTS:
The renovation and seismic upgrade of the iconic Pritzker Hall Psychology Tower at the University of California, Los Angeles, originally designed by Paul Revere Williams, addresses the growing requirements of one of the university’s largest undergraduate programs. The renovation provides a new departmental face to the university, as well as much-needed collaboration space, classrooms and modernized dry lab research space. A new, expanded entry lobby offers student amenity and study space within a double-height volume. It is LEED Platinum certified.