Elevon at Campus El Segundo
Architect: Ehrlich Architects with Ware Malcomb
Client: Continental Development Corporation and Mar Ventures
Location: El Segundo, CA
Completion: 2015

El Segundo, California, is second only to San Francisco in the state for its concentration of Fortune 500 companies—including DirecTV, Mattel, and several aerospace firms. The city’s latest business campus, Elevon at Campus El Segundo, will feature something unusual for Southern California: business-owned, neighborhood-scale work spaces for media, tech, and entertainment. The project includes 15 buildings on over 45 acres with 210,000 square feet of office space and 13,500 square feet for retail and restaurants.

Ehrlich Architects is leading the design with Ware Malcomb as the executive architect. The indoor and outdoor work areas focus on bringing a more residential feel to the site, with flexible and adaptable work spaces. There are planned fire pits, al fresco gardens, a t-shaped pedestrian zone, roll-up garage style doors, balconies, rooftop decks, and dog-friendly spaces. Each building will be no more than two stories high, and all of the facades, which are composed of metal, wood, and glass, are different.

“One of the goals of the project was to create an environment that was conducive to pedestrian activity, in a place that was completely devoid of that,” said Patricia Rhee, a partner at Ehrlich Architects. “The site was a challenge because it is surrounded by high-traffic roads, including one 6-lane street, and is very close to the 105 freeway.”

Rhee added that the firm strategically placed certain buildings and open spaces to establish a connection with buildings outside the campus. “We wanted to create a place that was intimate, while also engaging the surrounding community,” she said.

Continental Development Corporation and Mar Ventures are developing Elevon, which is financed in part by two SBA loans of up to $16 million total. Completion is anticipated by the 2nd quarter of 2015.