Howard Building Corporation

Project Description

Latham & Watkins was established in 1934 in Los Angeles and is now one of the largest law firms in the world. With more than 2,000 employees and 32 offices worldwide, they have a significant presence internationally, and yet they still maintain deep roots in the Southern California market. When they decided to update their offices, they approached Gensler and Howard Building Corporation to complete two new office build outs simultaneously, one in Los Angeles and one in Orange County. With presence in both locations, Gensler and HBC seamlessly provided service and delivered two separate and significantly impressive projects.

The Orange County project included 72,000 square feet of office space on four floors, with the majority of attention placed on the conference center located on the 20th and 21st floors of the building. New stairs were built for the conference center by opening up the structure between the two floors. A two story stacked stone wall was installed in the stairwell, and glass and stainless steel detailing completed the design. The conference rooms were equipped with the most advanced controls technology for the audio visual package as well as the lighting and blackout shades in perimeter conference rooms.

Two new reception areas were built, one at the main entry and another at the executive suites, a completely new security system was installed, and the Fire, Life, Safety system was upgraded, including 160 new smoke detectors throughout the space. High end finishes were included throughout the space as well, including stone floors, glass partitions at conference rooms, and wood doors and millwork throughout. Designer 4x4 tiles were used in the conference room ceilings, and all audio visual equipment was hidden from view, controlled by the integrated controls system. Every detail of the project utilized the highest quality material, technology and construction approach available.