Elliptical Building Reflects RAND's 'Flat Hierarchy'

DMJM-Designed Structure Resembles CBS' Eye Logo

By Kathy Lee Scott

A sleek-looking building in Santa Monica doesn't tell the whole story. Turner Construction completed the $90 million project for a demanding owner and a slow-growth city. Other high hurdles included a contaminated and odd-shaped site and a requirement for underground parking.

	Photo by LeNoir Photography

It took 20 years but RAND Corp. has a new headquarters in downtown Santa Monica.

Employees began transferring two months ago into the 309,000-sq.-ft. facility, across the street from county offices on Main Street.

Several developers had considered undertaking the $90 million project but were stymied by restrictions imposed by the city, which is known as a slow-growth advocate, plus demands by the "think tank" owner. The city required underground parking, limited building heights to 69 ft. and mandated minimum setbacks of 15 to 21 ft. around the buildings. This particular parcel fell under the Santa Monica's Civic Center Specific Plan as well.

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Despite these restraints, the Los Angeles office of Turner Construction Co. took the job in 2002. "This was a prestigious job, with a high-profile national client and a big-name architect," Shelly Wong, Turner's project manager said.

Working from designs by architects Paul Danna and Jose Palacios of Los Angeles-based DMJM Design of Los Angeles, Turner's Wong orchestrated 50-plus subcontractors.

"The original goal was to finish in 24 months," she said. "Even with last-minute changes, we kept on schedule."

Building on a former military barracks site, with railroads, led to the expected discovery of petroleum by-products in the soil, Wong said. "We had trucks hauling dirt in and out."

The decontamination of the site added 57 days to the schedule, she said.

Turner Construction next had to face completing the cast-in-place, 345,000-sq.-ft. subterranean structure during the wetter winter months.

	Photo by LeNoir Photography

The plaster subcontractor, Performance Contracting Inc. of Anaheim, assembled the lower-level exterior panels inside the first level of garage, then put them in place, Wong said. That ended up saving money and also kept the project from inclimate-weather delays, she added.

Above ground, further difficulties arose. The layout required narrower shear walls because of the circular design. "With the shorter walls, we needed more rebar," Wong said.

The unique facility design grew from RAND's requirements that the building stimulate employees' creativity and interactions, conserve environmental and institutional resources and accommodate changes when needed. It was also influenced by a comment made by RAND President James A. Thomson.

"He said the perfect building would be a circle to reflect the company's flat hierarchy," architect Danna said.

Additionally, the designers had a 3.7-acre site that was irregular in shape and bounded by Main Street and the Kenter Canyon storm drain, a 70-year-old brick pipe system.

Their inventive response is an elliptical building, five stories high with a three-level underground parking garage for 825 vehicles.

"While we couldn't give them a complete circle, we gave them two parts of one," Danna said.

	Photo by LeNoir Photography

From overhead, it is reminiscent of the CBS eye logo, enclosing a secure, open-air courtyard. Three 52-ft.-wide pedestrian walkways bisect the courtyard on the third through fifth floors, and the second story walkway expands into a tiered terrace, where the company's cafeteria will be located.

The two-arc structure brought a lot of natural light to the offices, Danna added. It also facilitated several interior perimeter work areas with operational windows.

The two architects designed more than 570 140-sq.-ft. private offices, around 100 smaller ones for support and part-time staff. Additionally, they clustered 400 workstations in twos or threes, set along 600-ft.-long, 52-ft.-wide arcs, for the administrative employees.

The wide hallways "encourage staff to get out of their offices and walk around, thus creating many opportunities for impromptu exchange, a key feature of our old headquarters," said Michael D. Rich, RAND's executive vice president. Traffic flow among the offices, meeting rooms and auxiliary areas will connect most of the workspaces.

To minimize noise intrusion in the offices, the architects grouped the stairwells, bathrooms and activity areas, where the copiers and kitchenettes are located. Additionally, they enlarged the glass-walled stairwells beyond emergency egress codes to promote spontaneous discussions.

"Because RAND needs government certification, we used a top-of-the-line security system," Wong said. No one will be able to access interior offices through any air vents, and all of the offices were constructed with extra sound and thermal insulation, she added.

Cameras and similar monitoring equipment have been installed prevalently around the perimeter, in the parking garage and inside the facility. Access to the garage will be strictly controlled.

The curved design meant no square corners. "We had to have surveyors help us with each section," Wong added. Another problem came when matching the building's vertical components with the garage's.

"They were on different radials," which necessitated extraordinary cooperation among the electrical, plumbing and mechanical subcontractors to align stairwells, elevators, columns and air shafts, Wong said.

On top of these considerations, RAND wanted its new headquarters qualified for a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design rating.

Most striking of its elements to qualify are the vented windows and "fins" to deflect afternoon sunlight. Less noticeable is the under-floor air-conditioning and heating system.

"It's more efficient since individuals can control their own vents, and the concrete floor helps keep it cool," architect Palacios said. It also puts the air where it's needed, at employee level, he added.

RAND selected carpet and furniture with high-recycled content to conform to LEED criteria.

To further shield the offices from sunlight, a small grove of coast redwoods was planted on the building's southwest side; the trees eventually will grow to 60 or 70 ft. Furthermore, drought-tolerant vegetation and ground cover were included in the landscape design.

In the courtyard, ginko plants and fast-growing bamboo inhabit planters next to office walls. The latter will ultimately shoot up to shield all five stories.

Palacios said that from the street, no one could actually see the entire structure as it curves away.

"They would only see a quarter of the design at a time," he said.

The new building was partially financed by RAND's 1999 sale of 11.3 of its 15 acres to the city for $53 million. Included in the sale was the site of its two-story, 285,000-sq.-ft. facility just north of new headquarters, which will be razed and converted to a city park.

RAND had to abandon its current street address with the move, said Katagiri, the company's community relations director, but "our new address is 1776."