In the Bunker Hill section of downtown L.A. sits an architectural gem — 400 South Hope Street.
Built in 1982, the 26-story building encompasses an entire city block and has more than 700,000 square feet of Class A office space.
400 South Hope Street, Los Angeles, CA
The demand for office space in the central business district of Los Angeles has grown dramatically in recent years.
CBRE Global Investors, a worldwide leader in real estate investment management, purchased the building in 2012.
The parent company, CBRE, Inc., chose to relocate its global headquarters there, and focused its sights on a unique space — the atrium-like 25th and 26th floors.
01. Project
02. Client
CBRE Global Investors
03. What We Did
Window Film Retrofit
Case Studies: CBRE Global Investors
Our Challenges
Laid out in a tiered mezzanine configuration with huge sloped skylights, the space provided spectacular views of the L.A. area. However, the same massive skylights that made the space unique created a number of challenges.
“Previous tenants told us that it wasn’t the most comfortable space,” said John Bonomo, CBRE’s Director of Operations. “First, there was massive heat gain through the skylights. Second, there was a huge issue with glare.”
One previous tenant had gone so far as to use umbrellas in an effort to reduce the effect of all the direct sunlight. CBRE, however, had a great deal of experience with a product specifically designed to address the issues: 3M™ Window Film.
“We’ve done a number of projects for CBRE over the years,” said Brad Campbell of Campbell Window Film in Huntington Beach, California. “The company understands that window film offers the easiest, no-maintenance solution for rejecting heat, blocking glare and preserving the building’s aesthetics.”
Campbell said building owners will consider shades or other mechanical applications for blocking sunlight, but they can present new problems like breakage and high-maintenance cleaning needs.
Project Details
Location:
400 South Hope Street, Los Angeles, CA
Type of Film:
3M™ Sun Control Window Film Night Vision Series
Square Feet of Film Installed:
Over 11,000 Square Feet
Case Studies: CBRE Global Investors
Our Solution
Each property was addressed as its own challenge. The goal was to increase the glass efficiency as much as possible while maintaining a modern look that matched the newer surrounding towers.
Since daylight harvesting is of paramount importance in modern office space, the glass needed to produce a bright and airy feel. Many of the towers already had an older film technology installed which needed to be removed prior to the new window film installation. In all cases, the end result was a lighter film with lower interior and exterior reflectivity.
Newer 3M window films can reject far more heat in very light shades than older films that relied on dark, reflective coatings to provide similar protection. This allowed Irvine Company to modernize the look and feel of the glass from the insides of the building and the exterior, while increasing the energy efficiency/daylighting ratio.
All of these buildings have been retrofitted with old window film removed and new film applied.
11000
Square feet of Film Installed
