A beaming design

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of

3555 is located in Conjunctive Points and is the most recent addition to the ongoing urban-scale collaboration in Culver City, California between architect and developer to revitalize an area of previously dilapidated industrial and warehouse buildings. The original brick structure was built in the early 1950's as an industrial warehouse located directly adjacent to a now abandoned Southern Pacific Railroad right-of-way. A masonry second floor was added in the late 1990's as the building was converted into a sound stage for in-coming film production companies in the area. A recently completed second expansion phase adds a third floor for additional office and conference space above the existing production facilities as a headquarters for a cable television station.In order to accommodate a third floor, a “foundation” of steel beams was built along the perimeter of the existing roof to distribute the additional load of the new floor. The complex roof geometry is constructed with 42 foot long glue-laminated wood beams at 12 foot centers and 2x rafters at 16” centers. Each beam was laminated and milled to a unique curvature and has a continuously changing bevel on the top surface. The third floor addition is intersected by two 42’ long skylights of mullion-less structural glass which span 6 feet between the three office modules. On the north side, a courtyard is cut into the façade and steeply slanted glazing was engineered to self-support. An aluminum storefront system was reinforced by steel to support the acute angle of the glass. The third floor expansion was to develop a system for adding office space to the building over time. Three additional fiberglass modules are anticipated for future expansion.