The Los Angeles City Council has unanimously approved Foster + Partners’ Television City scheme, capping a four-year planning and entitlement process. The project will update William Pereira’s 1952 buildings and transform the 25-acre site into a low-rise multi-modal campus, consisting of new sound stages, production offices, creative offices, and retail along its perimeter. The new elements of the scheme are inserted into a flexible low-carbon structural grid, which learns from the city’s world-renowned Case Study Houses. The green campus is designed to set a new precedent for sustainable and community-centred developments within a city.
David Summerfield, Head of Studio, Foster + Partners, said: “Our Television City scheme reinvigorates Pereira’s landmark building and extends this approach across the whole site, with a series of vibrant new workspaces, pocket parks, and green rooftops that merge the experience of indoors and outdoors. We are honoured to be part of the team making this project a reality – transforming a parking lot into a green landscaped campus that will give back to Los Angeles and generate long-term growth.”
With William Pereira’s buildings at its heart, the studio is arranged into two distinctive zones, which focus on content production and media operations. Production offices are adjacent to the new stages, improving efficiency and enhancing collaboration between departments. Buildings are flooded with natural light and tied together by tree-lined pedestrian boulevards, pocket parks, and courtyards to enhance wellbeing. Street level retail activates the perimeter of the studio and has a positive social impact on the surrounding area.
The design incorporates locally sourced low-carbon materials, on site renewable energy, and an abundance of greenery, making Television City L.A.’s first all-electric studio. A new state-of-the-art mobility hub is an integral part of the project, with a Transportation Demand Management (TDM) program reducing vehicle trips by up to 30 percent.
Responding to feedback from the local community, the programme has been modified to reduce the building massing along Fairfax Avenue and add more greenery to the rooftops. The revised scheme also reduces the amount of office space across the campus and redistributes it to production uses.
Jorge Uribe Restrepo, Partner, Foster + Partners added: “Throughout the approval process, we worked closely with our client, Hackman Capital Partners, to refine the scheme and respond to feedback from nearby residents, stakeholders, and city officials. The project carefully balances public and private interests, making the neighbourhood greener, safer, and friendlier, while retaining the privacy that the entertainment industry requires.”
