Especta Sports Center

“Especta” draws from the rich history of Los Angeles as the home of the film industry and creates a social environment through the interplay of set, performance, and audience. A close study of pedestrian movement and visual access was conducted to design a building that would incorporate the urban landscape into itself. It became apparent that the main views towards the site were mostly corner-based. Views into the building are created by a diagonal lifting of the walls strategically placed at the building’s corners. By cutting into the site at a diagonal, a pedestrian corridor is created, as well as a long façade towards the southeast. This allows for an uninterrupted view towards the main façade facing the most heavily trafficked road around the site. Meanwhile, pedestrians walking on the public corridor can look down into the basketball court and up towards the climbing wall. The bleachers are located along that diagonal, enabling a unique juxtaposition between viewers seated at the bleachers and viewers standing on the outside. The basketball court has a three-story high clearance. To achieve this, all the smaller non-sports program was stacked and pushed towards the North. The vertical circulation throughout the floors is located between the sports program and the non-sports program to display the big open space as you go up the floors. Multiple platforms are located within the space to create more viewing areas for both the basketball court and the climbing wall. The relationship between the program usage and the viewing of them is meant to create a more inviting and interactive design. As visual connections are created towards that big colorful space, one begins to be inclined to join the activities within.