Angels Landing

Client The Peebles Corporation, MacFarlane Partners, Claridge Properties
Location Los Angeles, CA
Status In Design

Handel Architects' 64-story tower at Angels Landing will be a bookend to the Downtown Los Angeles skyline.

Angels Landing is a two-tower mixed-use project in Downtown Los Angeles and includes a variety of uses clustered around a large amount of public open space. Plans include 432 residential units, two hotels, commercial space, and 50,000 sq. ft. of retail. The site, most recently home to the temporary park known as Angels Knoll, was previously intended to be part of a re-development project decades ago. The taller of the two towers, at 64-stories, will be the third tallest tower in Los Angeles.

On an urban scale, the project strives to connect the various neighborhoods that converge at this location, including the Financial District, the Historic Core, the Cultural District and Civic Center. By using the buildings’ architecture and landscaping, the design encourages the fluid movement of people into and through the site’s many building lobbies, retail storefronts and plazas. The design approach is based on a number of key factors: the re-interpretation of the arrival plaza at the Pershing Square Metro Station; enhancement of the pedestrian experience of riding the Angels Flight funicular; and creating a more lively pedestrian experience to and from California Plaza and its adjacent office buildings.

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The podium is composed of a series of cantilevered floors and terraced levels that gradually reach upwards to California Plaza.

The floorplate configurations vary and undulate along the plaza to create unique spaces for circulation, planting, and gathering.

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Rising above the podium are two towers, organized to act as a gateway into the project site.

The lower tower is located along 4th Street and is set back from the corner of Hill Street, while the taller tower is located on the east side of the parcel and is located closer to the street edge. The juxtaposition of the two towers creates a dynamic composition within the overall context and provides visual distinction from the surrounding context.

The 42-story tower is visually expressed through strong horizontal banding.

The base of the 64-story tower is expressed by a similar horizontal expression, creating a dialogue between the two structures. Above, the banding on this taller tower turns vertical by using protruding vertical fins that appear as layered screens in front of a horizontal substructure, exposing balconies at the corners of the floor plates.

Angels Landing will create a new pedestrian destination and a landmark for the City of Los Angeles.

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Awards

2023 Best Mixed-Use Building, The American Architecture Awards - The Chicago Athenaeum

Scope

Design Architect Architect of Record

Project Team

Glenn Rescalvo, Jim Hakes, Katie Wilson

Design Partner(s)

Landscape Architect - Olin

Visualizations

Smilodon