海角视频

In a city known for reinvention, LACMA鈥檚 new David Geffen Galleries sets a benchmark for what a museum can look like and how it can perform, endure, and serve a community for the next century.

When the Los Angeles County Museum of Art opens the , visitors will experience a museum unlike any other in the U.S.: a single, elevated, organically shaped concrete plane that floats above the ground and wraps uninterrupted 360-degree glazing around its perimeter. The structure is radical in form, serene in presence, and unusually restrained for a 21st鈥慶entury cultural building.

What the public won鈥檛 see by deliberate design is the extraordinary engineering effort required to make it possible. For more than a decade, 海角视频 worked side鈥慴y鈥憇ide with architect Peter Zumthor, LACMA leadership, and a multidisciplinary team to translate a deeply atmospheric architectural vision into a technically rigorous, climate鈥憄repared, and community鈥慶entered museum built for the next century.

In this conversation, Partner Ron Elad, Associate Principal, Kathleen Hetrick, and Partner Julian Parsley explore the project鈥檚 most ambitious technical and sustainability challenges. From invisible environmental systems to fully transparent 360鈥慸egree glazing alongside the civic purpose that guided the design. Together, they offer a rare look at how this museum came to life and what it suggests about the next generation of resilient, community鈥憃riented cultural institutions.

A vision years in the making

海角视频鈥檚 relationship with LACMA began long before formal design commenced, during the museum鈥檚 iconic installation. That early success opened the door to a broader role, one that soon grew to encompass structural feasibility, environmental design, MEP systems, sustainability strategy, and embodied鈥慶arbon optimization.

鈥淲e were involved before there was really a building,鈥� recalls Ron. 鈥淚t began with early sustainability concepts and understanding where the client might flex. Over 13 or 14 years, the project kept evolving and so did the strategy.鈥�

At the center of that evolution were two forces: Michael Govan鈥檚 unwavering commitment to reinventing the museum, and Zumthor鈥檚 characteristic pursuit of atmosphere over convention. 鈥淗e designs through experience,鈥� says Julian. 鈥淚f a material or system changed, he would rethink the entire design to preserve the feeling he wanted visitors to have.鈥�

Achieving that level of precision meant working with engineers who could problem鈥憇olve creatively and explain constraints clearly. 海角视频 became that partner.

Engineering simplicity through intense complexity

One of Zumthor鈥檚 earliest directives was also his most uncompromising: he wanted a museum that felt timeless and elemental; 鈥渁s if you鈥檙e entering a relic,鈥� Parsley says. That meant no visible air鈥慶onditioning systems, no mechanical noise, and nothing that would break the illusion of an ancient, monolithic structure.

This ambition set the stage for one of the project鈥檚 signature engineering achievements: a radiant鈥慸ominant environmental system fully integrated into the concrete structure, paired with air supplied through cast鈥慽n鈥憄lace 鈥渃ones鈥� that double as lighting, fire protection, and architectural expression.

鈥淭hese cones gave us a way to deliver air exactly where we needed it while working with, not against, the structure,鈥� Elad explains. Traditional perimeter slots would have been incompatible with the deep span of the roof slab and would have created structural breaks around the building鈥檚 edge. The cones were cleaner, quieter, and seamlessly aligned with Zumthor鈥檚 vision.

Achieving this 鈥渆ffortless鈥� solution required, paradoxically, enormous effort. Night鈥憀ong sketching sessions, constant cross鈥慸isciplinary revision cycles, and deep trust between architect and engineer ultimately yielded a system that is simultaneously high鈥憄erformance and nearly imperceptible.

Parsley recounts. Peter wanted flexibility, but he needed to understand the engineering logic. Our job was to give him the parameters then embrace the creativity that came next.鈥�

One continuous floor, one complex phasing puzzle

Replacing four aging buildings with a single exhibition level might sound like spatial simplification, but behind the scenes it triggered some of the project鈥檚 most complex engineering challenges.

When the East Campus was demolished, it took with it the central utility plant that powered the operational West Campus. That meant 海角视频 had to design and sequence a temporary utility plant, keep the campus functioning for years during construction, and then transition systems into a new permanent plant integrated within the Geffen Galleries.

鈥淚t shaped so many design decisions,鈥� Elad notes. 鈥淣oise, access, security, maintainability, the logistics were as influential as the architecture.鈥�

The result is a new museum whose physical consolidation brings new curatorial freedom. With a flattened, continuous gallery floor and multiple access points, visitors can chart their own path, not one predetermined by stairways and building edges. The engineering made that experience possible.

Perhaps the most publicly striking aspect of the building is its 360-degree glazing: floor鈥憈o鈥慶eiling glass providing panoramic views of Los Angeles. While many museums limit transparency to protect art, LACMA embraced openness as a civic gesture, one that invites the public to see inside from Wilshire Boulevard.

From a technical standpoint, this transparency required rigorous daylight modeling, environmental analysis, and extensive collaboration with curators.

鈥淟ight drove the design more than HVAC,鈥� Parsley says. 鈥淚f a piece of art could tolerate its solar exposure, we knew temperature wouldn鈥檛 be an issue.鈥�

Strategic overhangs validated by early modeling from 海角视频 provided substantial shading on most orientations, with additional manual curtains where necessary. The building鈥檚 radiant鈥慶ooled concrete mass keeps conditions remarkably stable during commissioning, even with its vast exterior glazing.

The result: a museum that feels open to the city without compromising conservation.

Sustainability beyond the building: Materials, carbon, and community

Long before embodied carbon became an industry priority, 海角视频 worked with concrete and cement suppliers to lower the carbon intensity of the building鈥檚 structure. This early partnership helped advance low鈥慶arbon concrete availability in the Los Angeles region, a benefit that extends beyond LACMA.

The museum is also pursuing LEED Gold, with aspirations toward Platinum, and is certified CalGreen Tier 1. But sustainability here is not only environmental; it is cultural and civic.

LACMA鈥檚 new campus is designed as a community resource: shaded outdoor spaces, native planting, and a building elevated to restore pedestrian connectivity across the site. The museum also adopted a circular approach to materials, recovering elements from existing buildings and designing new galleries with durable concrete walls instead of disposable exhibition drywall.

It forces you to think in terms of a 100鈥� or 200鈥憏ear life. This building isn鈥檛 going anywhere. Its longevity is part of its sustainability story.

Julian Parsley, Partner | US Market Lead – West

The quiet complexity of this project stands as a reminder of what is possible when vision, persistence, and deep interdisciplinary collaboration align. In many ways, the building is less a culmination than a beginning; offering a new model for how cultural institutions can embrace sustainability, longevity, and civic purpose without compromising architectural ambition. For 海角视频, it marks not only a milestone project, but a blueprint for the future of museum design.