In a neighborhood of new architectural icons, ESI combines bold branding with digital experience design, allowing an older building to shine.
GQ magazine called downtown Los Angeles “America’s Next Great City.” New hotels, restaurants and cultural institutions such as the Broad Museum and Walt Disney Concert hall are transforming the neighborhood. In the center of it all, the old 1 California Plaza seemed outdated. Owner Beacon Capital Partners turned to ESI Design to reinvigorate it.
The design team used dynamic colored lighting, new media and bold signage to create an immersive environment that enlivened both the building and the surrounding plaza. Highlights of the redesign include:
• Rebranding the building as 1Cal Plaza, including a sophisticated new building ID.
• Dynamic illuminated surfaces in the elevator bays that stretch along the ceiling and flow down the back wall. These light surfaces change slowly and subtly through the day with the colors of the southern California sky, from radiant purple to cool blue to warm oranges and pinks.
• A panoramic photograph taken from the roof of the building was applied in slices to each of the vertical glass fins in the lobby’s expansive front windows. When viewed together, the fins show the vast Los Angeles skyline.
• A digital gallery of LCD screens that continually updates with imagery from the Instagram feeds of local artists.
• The retail corridor was rebranded as 1CAL Marketplace and given a new graphic identity, signage and wayfinding system.
The new 1CAL Plaza is vibrant and culturally relevant, befitting its burgeoning neighborhood.
"Rising Realty Partners and Colony purchased One California Plaza for roughly $460M earlier this year, which was close to the highest per square foot CRE transaction in Downtown LA."
In a neighborhood of new architectural icons, ESI combines bold branding with digital experience design, allowing an older building to shine.
GQ magazine called downtown Los Angeles “America’s Next Great City.” New hotels, restaurants and cultural institutions such as the Broad Museum and Walt Disney Concert hall are transforming the neighborhood. In the center of it all, the old 1 California Plaza seemed outdated. Owner Beacon Capital Partners turned to ESI Design to reinvigorate it.
The design team used dynamic colored lighting, new media and bold signage to create an immersive environment that enlivened both the building and the surrounding plaza. Highlights of the redesign include:
• Rebranding the building as 1Cal Plaza, including a sophisticated new building ID.
• Dynamic illuminated surfaces in the elevator bays that stretch along the ceiling and flow down the back wall. These light surfaces change slowly and subtly through the day with the colors of the southern California sky, from radiant purple to cool blue to warm oranges and pinks.
• A panoramic photograph taken from the roof of the building was applied in slices to each of the vertical glass fins in the lobby’s expansive front windows. When viewed together, the fins show the vast Los Angeles skyline.
• A digital gallery of LCD screens that continually updates with imagery from the Instagram feeds of local artists.
• The retail corridor was rebranded as 1CAL Marketplace and given a new graphic identity, signage and wayfinding system.
The new 1CAL Plaza is vibrant and culturally relevant, befitting its burgeoning neighborhood.
"Rising Realty Partners and Colony purchased One California Plaza for roughly $460M earlier this year, which was close to the highest per square foot CRE transaction in Downtown LA."
