Opportunity: 101 North Brand is a Class A office tower in the heart of Glendale’s downtown. Beacon Capital Partners came to ESI Design to activate and unify the building’s façade, plaza, and lobby to create a more compelling sense of place and to attract the young creatives that have migrated to Glendale.

Solution: ESI Design created a modern town square with a playful interactive musical clocktower, called the Chromaphone. This public art installation turns the plaza into an active destination and its visitors into musicians. People can play with the Chromphone’s ‘Waterfall Sequencer’ or ‘Elemental Sampler’ to generate patterns of sound and color on the iconic digital clocktower. Every hour a chime broadcasts the plaza’s energy to the neighborhood.

The redesign continues into the building’s interior with a lobby updated to be warmer and more appealing, with improved wayfinding and a media display behind the new security desk that complements the Chromaphone media outside.

A bold red building logo unifies the building exterior, tenant signage, and new plaza seating. The result transforms the site into a cornerstone of downtown Glendale.

Result: After the renovation, 101 North Brand’s office space is now 97% leased, well above the average for the neighborhood. The public art in the plaza is a new icon for Glendale and a natural place for the community to gather.