Earlier this month, Zoltan Pali of SPF:architects offered us a look inside WE3, the new office building now rising at the Water's Edge campus in Playa Vista.

Located near the intersection of Lincoln and Jefferson Boulevards, the development from Rockwood Capital will consist of a six-story structure containing 160,000 square feet of office space above a four-level, semi-subterranean parking garage.

The project is called WE3 as the third building of the Water's Edge campus, which was built by veteran real estate investor Robert Maguire.  Under Maguire's ownership, two of three buildings allowed for in the property's master plan were realized - now housing an LA Fitness and the Los Angeles offices of video game maker Electronic Arts. 

Rockwood, which also owns the nearby Playa Jefferson campus, purchased Water's Edge from Maguire and his partner Divco West in early 2018 and broke ground on the property's third building shortly thereafter.

SPF:architects' design for WE3 is intended to allow the campus to work as a cohesive environment.  A soccer field that previously occupied the footprint of the new construction is being replaced on an elevated structure towards the center of the site.  This will result in a unified amenity deck shared between the three buildings.

A series of balconies will overlook Jefferson Boulevard - the largest of which will be located on WE3's third floor.  The amenity spaces will be shielded by an extension of the building's exoskeleton.

watermark

The top level of WE3 is bisected by an atrium and sky garden, a unique feature which resulted from a zoning restriction prevening the upper floor of the building from sharing a cmmon border while exceeding 20,000 square feet.  Though this code provision was intended to allow for a setback toward the property line, it did not preclude a more creative redistribution of mass.

Footwear and apparel company Nike has leased the upper two levels of the building to serve as its Los Angeles area offices, according to a project representative.  The Oregon-based company had previously been slated to occupy a new development in the Hayden Tract.

Plans call for a "floating" perforated metal skin, shrouding the building's interior along its southern, western, and northern fronts.  However, WE3 will present with a gridlike window system to the east.

Construction of the project has been underway since May 2018.  Completion is anticipated in 2020.