TWG Architects Inc with Ena Dubnoff Architects and Studio FV (Fernando Vasquez)

Client: Planned Parenthood Los Angeles

Facility: Bixby Center for Reproductive Health & S. Mark Taper Foundation Center for Medical Training

Location: Los Angeles, CA

Building Area: 40,000 sf

Renovation of an existing 40,000 sq. ft. industrial tilt-up building as the headquarter offices and clinic for this healthcare provider. An interior courtyard was opened by removing part of the roof to bring daylight to the interior and provide outside space for office workers in this industrial, freeway-close neighborhood.. Security issues regarding the building perimeter and the safety of patients and staff were strong considerations in the design. Recipient of a 2009 AIA/LA Citation Award for Excellence in Architectural Design.

TWG Architects Inc with Steven Erhlich Architects

Client: Skye Partners

Location: Culver City, CA

Awarded the Westside Prize 1999 by the Westside Urban Forum.

Client: Walters Storyk Design Group

Location: Culver City, CA

TWG Architects Inc in collaboration with Interior Designer Anne Cederna

Tenant improvements for this high-tech firm in Culver City CA. The dramatic entrance leading into informal working spaces exactly suited the character this group wanted to present.

Client: Ferris Baker Watts, Inc

Location: San Francisco, CA

Client: Baldwin Hills Investors Ltd

Facility: LAUSD (LA Unified School District) Baldwin Hills

Location: Los Angeles, CA

Rework of an existing movie theater in this shopping center to provide local offices for the Los Angeles Unified School District.

Client: Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems

Dates: 1985 to Present

During World War II, Northrop produced the lethal Black Widow, the first U.S. aircraft designed specifically for night combat – demonstrating an early understanding that as modern warfare changes, so must its weapons. TWG has designed manufacturing, research and management spaces for NGAS since 1985 through today as the manufacturer of U.S. aircraft carriers sweats the small stuff, as in nano-small, the scale of cyberwarfare. One recent management/office project involved gutting and renovating an existing 120,000 sq. ft. building. The design incorporates the client’s need for a secure presentation room with tiered seating for 70-plus and a video wall comprising of 12 LCD TV monitors. Construction was split into two phases reflecting the split of the space itself, requiring both the architect and the general contractor to work with extreme caution in one half of the building while the other remained occupied. Construction also included the abatement of all asbestos-bearing materials within the shell interior.

Client: W. E. O’Neil Construction Company

Location: Rancho Cucamonga, CA

Complete gutting and renovation of an existing 9,000 sq. ft. industrial park shell to provide new offices and reception area for the nationwide commercial builder’s Inland Empire location. The finished space includes a conference room, training room, library, kitchen, and a plan room for archival purposes. Aside from the Los Angeles office Ontario is the only other operating unit this Chicago-based firm has in California. The project, completed in 2011, is emblematic of our strong, long-standing design-build relationship with both local offices.

Client: Fidelity Mortgage Lenders, Inc

Location: West Los Angeles, CA

Client: Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)

Facility: UPS Bldg for Deep Space Network Antenna at Goldstone

Location: Mojave Desert (Ft. Irwin), CA

TWG provided the architectural, civil, and structural design for housing the uninterruptible power supply (UPS) system for the 70-meter (230-foot) deep-space antenna that JPL operates in the high desert of the Mojave. The satellite dish, one of the largest in North America, enables Earth (NASA) to maintain contact with spacecraft some 10 billion miles away in what amounts to the most expensive but most comprehensive calling plan in the universe. Critical in this effort is the continuity of electrical power for satellite communications, making the durability and low maintenance of the structure absolutely essential. Pre-existing ground construction required building on concrete pilings rather than spread footings.

Photo: Courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech

Client: Hughes Aircraft

Location: Various

Dates: 1983 to 2000

TWG provided facility planning/architectural services to Hughes Space and Communications Group for numerous projects from 1983 (as an independent entity) until 2000 (shortly after its incorporation into Boeing, GM and Raytheon). The work included lab spaces, special testing areas, anechoic chambers, clean rooms, warehouse spaces, and large office spaces (both proprietary and DoD-secure). We completed the facility design for the first joint testing operation between GM and Hughes SCG: a high-tech testing and simulations area for new automotive products. Prior to that, we remodeled the offices and labs on three floors of Bldg. R-10 (totaling 65,000 sq. ft.). Typically, our work included space planning and architectural design, as well as coordination of electrical, mechanical, and structural engineers' design work. Shown here are photographs and drawings for a test facility in Torrance for XIPS (Xenon Ion Propulsion Systems) — requiring large stainless steel chambers capable of being evacuated to simulate outer space conditions.

Client: NanoHNano H20

Facility: Pilot Plant & Research Wet Labs

Location: El Segundo, CA

Criteria: 25,000 sf

Complete renovation of a 25,000-square-foot industrial space for the South Bay high-tech start-up and innovator in reverse osmosis desalination membranes – the nanofiltration technology making drinking water a renewable resource. TWG provided programming, schematic and final documents, and, even after project completion, continues working with NanoH2O in the ever-evolving process of building improvements. Original work involves new research wet labs, a new proprietary pilot plant commercializing a still-nascent technology, and the fledgling company’s corporate offices.

Client: Rockwell International (now Teledyne Corp)

Facility: Rockwell Science (now Teledyne Scientific & Imaging)

Location: Camarillo, CA

Dates: 1986-Present

We have rendered architectural services for the Rockwell Science Center both before and subsequent to the sale to Boeing and then Teledyne. While maintaining its foothold in defense work, the R&D hub sets its sights on developing diagnostic, analytical and perceptual tools in the fields of medicine, business, and entertainment (immersive technologies: the gamer’s ultimate wet dream). TWG provides both space planning and detailed engineering work, covering a full-range of facilities support issues. One of our earliest attempts at a controlled environment – a redesign of the EDL (Engineering Development Lab) Clean Rooms – was selected internally by Rockwell in 1996 as "Project of the Year".

Recent work (selected):
Design of Camarillo classified areas
Design for tenant improvements within CAM 2 offices
Space-planning studies for new Camarillo offices (30,000 sf)
Design for tenant improvements for new Camarillo offices (20,000 sf)
Design of new office areas and cafeteria dining rooms at lower level (B.100)
Project study for facilities conversion/increased functionality for cafeteria, auditorium and conference areas (B.100)

Client: Rocketdyne (now Aerojet Rocketdyne)

Projects 1986 to Present

Locations: Canoga Avenue/De Soto Avenue facilities, Canoga Park, CA

TWG has been a consulting architectural firm for the western San Fernando Valley facilities of Rocketdyne for nearly 30 years as well as a provider of facilities design for its former cousin, the Rockwell Science Center (now Teledyne Scientific & Imaging). Perhaps best known as maker of the SSME (Space Shuttle Main Engine), the Rocketdyne division also is responsible for launching NASA’s Apollo program into space with its F-1 rocket engine. (An updated version of the F-1 currently is in development for deep-space exploration.) Industrial engineering, landscape design and space planning (solely terrestrial) are all part of the services we provide for Aerojet Rocketdyne, including facility-planning support on an out-source basis. TWG is part of the site’s Emergency Response Team in case of a natural disaster.

Recent work (selected):    
Design for Rapid Prototyping/3D printing area (B.101)
Design for secure proposal area (B.102)
Design for VTC equipment (B.101)
Design for renovation of Tooling area (B.101)
Design for new ‘pre-clean’ dip tank H7 occupancy
Design for new dye-penetrant inspection line
Relocate Machining Operation (B.001-B.101) (100,000 sf) 
Relocate Experimental Machine Center (B.101)
Renovation of offices (B.102) (80,000 sf)    
New labs/offices for Space Station Propulsion Systems (50,000 sf)

Client: ExxonMobil

Facility: Petroleum Quality Control Lab

Location: Torrance, CA

Criteria: 10,000 sf

ExxonMobil performs continuous real-time testing for all petroleum products refined on site which required an adjacent new quality-assurance laboratory for the chemical testing and analysis of octane, Hf, and similar fuel parameters. Working from initial plans developed by ExxonMobil personnel, TWG conceived a relatively simple structure to house wet labs, over 20 fume hoods, octane-testing engines, and other specialized rooms; in addition, to offices, conference rooms and similar support spaces. 

The interior is exposed construction and allows the dozen or so lab gas pipes to become an integral part of the architecture, along with the exposed supply, exhaust ducting, and other utilities. A large number of localized adjustable snorkel exhausts also define and animate the space. The design takes into account small situations of hazardous materials.

Client: AMVAC Chemical Corporation

Facility: Formulation Lab & Controlled Environment Chamber

Location: City of Commerce, CA

The substantially-complete project provides the agrochemical maker with a new formulation lab and an adjacent, H2-classified, single-pass environmental chamber for research in highly-explosive powdered compounds used in manufacturing fertilizer. Work includes more traditional analytic labs, plus new and renovated offices as well as a renovation to the exterior to address accessibility issues. Local zoning ordinances mandate the parking lot undergo a redesign to include extensive landscaping.

Client: The Boeing Company

Projects: 1995 to Present

Locations: Various

For nearly 20 years, TWG has provided a full-range of architectural services to the company whose name has been synonymous with flying since the early days of commercial flight. Today Boeing still dominates the skies above. What began in a riverside Seattle shipyard in the 1910s has grown into not only one of the largest aircraft manufacturers but the second largest aerospace and defense contractor in the world. Our work is closely involved with both classified and unclassified operations and includes electronics labs, manufacturing spaces, office and presentation areas, site work and other support functions for three campuses.

Recent work (selected):

HUNTINGTON BEACH INTEGRATED DEFENSE SYSTEMS
Renovation of B.49; Anaheim relocations; labs, manufacturing and offices
Renovation of B.45; new structure within building; Anaheim relocations
Renovation of B.10-1; NetLab, unclassified presentation
Renovation of B.13-1, 13-2; offices and labs
Renovation of B.10-2, roof; offices and antenna systems
Renovation of B.14-1; Navy offices
Design of classified presentation building (B.25)
Renovation of B.49; West High Bay Labs
Design of classified Lab (B.13-2)

SEAL BEACH
Renovation of classified areas (B.90-1, 90-2, 90-3)
Design of Data Center improvements (B.80)

LONG BEACH
Modular office buildings within existing facilities (5 locations)

ANAHEIM
Renovation of B.201-1, 202-2, 202-3; offices, secure offices, and electronics labs
Renovation of clean rooms for guidance systems

Client: Amgen

Location: Thousand Oaks, CA

TWG has provided numerous wet lab renovations and relocations, office remodeling, feasibility studies, and even a church relocation (to make way for a new Amgen building) for the burgeoning biotech firm that maintains its global headquarters in Thousand Oaks. The most recent Amgen project involved developing an entirely new imaging suite within an existing research building that remained fully operational during construction.
The new suite included a room for one large-scale MRI and two smaller scanning rooms – one performing PET scans; the other, SPEC-T. The work effectively isolates and separates various functions from pre-existing operations, including cage-handling as well as the care of irradiated specimens.

Client: Baxter Healthcare

Facility: Wet Labs & Plasma Fractionation Processing

Location: Los Angeles, CA

Since 2000, the biopharmaceutical has retained TWG to renovate biologically-sensitive laboratories and the blood-processing areas where fractionation takes place -- the process of breaking down plasma into its components. Baxter leads the field in the research and treatment of primary immunodeficiency and of hemophilia, a commonly-inherited blood-clotting disorder that rarely expresses itself in females but occurs once in every 5,000 newborn males worldwide.
To prevent the widespread transmission of blood-borne pathogens (HIV, HBV, HCV) which ravaged the U.S. hemophilia community in the 1980s, the company was the first to develop a therapy without human- or animal-derived additives. Construction is often accomplished during plant-wide shutdowns when building can proceed 24/7 for an approximate three-week period. TWG is particularly attuned to respond immediately to all questions in the field or any inspector-related issues. Many of our projects at Baxter involve working in concert with CRB Engineers.

Client: Herbalife

Location: Lake Forest, CA

TWG renovated two laboratory areas at the dietary supplement giant’s vitamin/herbal supplement manufacturing facility. One project required relocating an existing Quality Control lab function within the plant; in another, the plant’s chemistry lab required renovation and the installing of a new NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance) machine with the customary accessory components. In this case, magnetic shielding was provided nominally at the machine enclosure, so shielded construction was not required at room level.

Client: NA

Location: San Fernando, CA

Data not available.

Client: Siemens Healthcare

Facility: Biomarker Lab (PETNET Solutions & MIBR)

Location: Culver City, CA

Criteria: 17,000 sf

Complete gut/renovation of an existing 17,000-square-foot building to facilitate the discovery and development of injectable tracers as a diagnostic tool in oncology and neurology (specifically, Alzheimer’s disease, and other causes of cognitive decline). Project provides chemical and biological wet labs, a small vivarium, a Class 10,000 (ISO 7) clean room, engineering and machining rooms, administrative offices, and expansion space in support of MIBR (Molecular Imaging Biomarker Research) – the injecting of short-lived radioactive compounds into cancer patients. Work was conducted on a fast-track basis with extensive input and guidance from the local building and fire departments. Related work included new ‘hot’ cells, renovation of the radiopharmacy, and distribution of product from one of two cyclotrons housed in the building.

Client: Ventura County Medical Center

Location: Oxnard, CA

Renovation of an existing space in a retail shopping center includes doctors’ offices, a family medical clinic and an urgent care facility that increasingly serves Ventura County’s growing homeless population.

Client: Ventura County Public Health Department

Location: Oxnard, CA

Renovation of an existing portion in a retail shopping center to provide offices for the county’s various public health agencies.

Client: Ventura County Medical Center

Location: Simi Valley, CA

A 4,500 sq. ft. outpatient and urgent care facility in a retail shopping center, includes urgent care, adult/pediatric exam and surgical procedure areas, in addition to lab/blood analysis and office space for four physicians.

Remodel of West Los Angeles retail space to create a leading-edge animal care facility.

Client: University of Southern California, Roski School of Fine Arts

Location: Los Angeles, CA

Renovation of an existing rabbit-warren of small makeshift studios to provide three teaching studios and ten faculty offices. The largest drawing studio is spacious with abundant light and extensive walls for group crits and student projects.

Client: University of Southern California

Facility: USC Widney Hall (Alumni House)

Location: Los Angeles, CA

Part of the USC master plan (prepared by Michael Dennis) involved relocating the oldest university building in Southern California – a two-story, wood-frame house built in 1880. Widney Hall’s new site aligns with the main campus entry, linking the university’s past with its future. The 40-yard move required the 19th century house to be lifted and carried by tractors while supported on a mat of steel beams.

TWG enlisted a building-&-house-moving consultant to provide details on the operation as well as historical consultants (Kaplan Chen Kaplan) to handle code negotiations under the State Historical Building Code. TWG provided drawings and documents for the move itself, the new foundation, accessible bathroom facilities and egress stairway from the second floor.

Client: California Institute of Technology

Facility: Caltech Sloan Research Lab (The Schwab Group)

Location: Pasadena, CA

Criteria: 3,100 sf

In its pursuit of discovering the point at which Newton’s Laws cease and quantum mechanics begin the Schwab Group, led by Prof. Keith Schwab, chose to focus on the behavior of nanoscale electro-mechanical structures at ultra-low temperatures. The experiments required Sloan Hall’s sub-basement to be dampened and renovated to provide two Rf shielded enclosures (chambers impervious to electromagnetic or radio frequency interference) and conventional laboratory benchtop units.

Each enclosure houses a vibration-isolating optical table supported by aluminum-encased columns filled with sand and lead bricks. Due to the site’s inaccessibility, the pits (ranging in depth from 6’-10’) had to be dug, manually. The project required above and beyond our usual painstaking attention to detail. In some cases, the fittings on highly-specialized equipment called for construction tolerances to be held to a largely unheard of 1/16 of an inch.

Client: Danilo Terribili

Location: Los Angeles, CA

Facility: Alto Palato (Pazzia)

TWG provided the architectural design and kitchen equipment coordination services for the expansion (completed in 1994) of this once-trendy-now-closed restaurant along North LaCienega Boulevard. The design features an open plan, highlighting the 25' high ceiling, and includes ceiling elements which differentiate and humanize the scale of the various portions of the restaurant. The split-level space includes a bar on the lower level and open Italian wood-burning pizza oven on the upper. Permitting was particularly difficult due to extremely limited parking available on-site.

Designed by TWG Architects in 1984 (and since renovated) this ice cream store has remained a fixture in the UCLA/Westwood college town.

TWG designed a series of restaurants for this high-spirited Owner. The most recent was his Culver City Barbacoa — which enjoyed a short lively existence until the site was usurped by a Chipotle franchise.

TWG is assisting the Cafe owner in his attempt to add an outdoor patio area for Hookah. Issues of parking and wheelchair access complicate this attempt — which is ongoing as of fall 2018..

TWG renovated tenant space in an existing small shopping center for this Jamaican restaurant. Site work included verifying parking provisions to Los Angeles City standards and verification of wheelchair site access. Design work included full kitchen design as well as layout for the dining area and implementation of the Owner’s design concept.

Client: Wherehouse Entertainment Inc

Locations: Various

Dates: 1987 to 1991

TWG provided services to the now-defunct Wherehouse Entertainment, Inc., to design both tenant improvements and merchandising fixture plans for a number of its retail record (AKA “albums”, “LPs”, “wax”, “vinyl”) stores. Some were rehabilitations of existing Wherehouse(s); others, new occupancies. Of the over 80 locations we designed, here’s a selection: 

La Brea Ave., Los Angeles, CA
Main Place, Santa Ana, CA
Ventura Blvd., Encino, CA
Beverly Connection, West Hollywood, CA
El Toro Blvd., El Toro, CA
Bristol St., Santa Ana, CA (near South Coast Plaza)
Hillcrest Center, San Diego, CA
University Center, Seattle, WA
Mayfair Plaza, Culver City, CA
Marina del Rey, CA
PCH, Malibu, CA
Fullerton, CA
Crenshaw Plaza, Los Angeles, CA
Carson Mall, Carson, CA
Del Amo Mall, Torrance, CA
Overlake Center, Bellevue, WA
Downey-Stonewood Center, Downey, CA
Hacienda Heights, CA
Glendale Galleria I, Glendale, CA
Santa Monica Place, Santa Monica, CA

The first of the stores TWG designed was an 8,000-square-foot free-standing structure constructed in 1987 (pictured) as a "build-to-suit" by the Centerpoint Mall on behalf of Wherehouse Entertainment. The design featured several large angled cubes – constructed of glass, stucco, or drywall – and incorporated as display windows, entrances or suspended within the sales area as design elements.

Client: Compton Commercial Renaissance Plaza LLC

Location: Compton, CA

TWG set out a program for overall thematic coordination of exterior design improvements for this shopping center located in Compton California.

Client: Oxnard Center Company

Location: Oxnard, CA

TWG designed a new free-standing retail building to be occupied by both the Centerpoint Mall and Chief Auto Parts at the north end of the site. The design extends the rhythm of an arcade for the adjacent anchor tenant, while incorporating a "tower" element that provides visual termination of the mall facade at this end of the project. The tower, rising to a 35' interior height, provides a unique entrance for the Auto Chief tenancy, offering the possibility of suspending a vehicle within the building as an identification element. The project was completed in 1993.