A groundbreaking ceremony scheduled on November 11 will officially kick off the start of construction for the Audrey Irmas Pavilion, an expansion of the historic Wilshire Boulevard Temple.
The $75-million project, which is being designed by the Office of Metropolitan Architecture and its partners Shohei Shigematsu and Rem Koolhaas, will replace a surface parking lot at the corner of Wilshire and Harvard Boulevards. Plans call for a three-story, 55,000-square-foot building with even space for the temple congregation and surrounding neighborhood, as well as supportive services such as hot meal programs and medical clinics.
OMA is designing the expansion with a sloping facade that angles away from the historic temple building, which was completed in 1929. The pavilion will be capped with a landscaped outdoor deck with design work by Los Angeles-based Studio MLA.
As of April 2018, the Temple had raised $55 million out of the total $75 million construction budget. Completion of the Pavilion is anticipated in 2020.
OMA and Studio MLA are also collaborating on the planned First and Broadway Park, which will be built across the street from City Hall in Downtown Los Angeles.
