Elemental Construction in California, USA

UCLA Warner Graduate Art Studio renovation and extension

Elemental Construction in California, USA

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    UCLA Warner Graduate Art Studio renovation and addition, Culver City, CA, USA

    Northwest corner main entry.

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    Elemental Construction in California, USA

    “There’s almost like an under-designed quality to the building, meaning it’s calibrated with light and scale but it doesn’t really determine how you can use the spaces.” – Sharon Johnson, Founder & Partner, Johnston Marklee

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    UCLA Warner Graduate Art Studio renovation and addition, Culver City, CA, USA

    Southwest corner sculpture yard.

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    UCLA Warner Graduate Art Studio renovation and addition, Culver City, CA, USA

    Sculpture yard view looking east.

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    UCLA Warner Graduate Art Studio renovation and addition, Culver City, CA, USA

    Center bay critique space in renovated warehouse.

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    UCLA Warner Graduate Art Studio renovation and addition, Culver City, CA, USA

    Physical model and massing studies.

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    UCLA Warner Graduate Art Studio renovation and addition, Culver City, CA, USA

    Perspective sections through new building.

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    UCLA Warner Graduate Art Studio renovation and addition, Culver City, CA, USA

    Ground floor schematic plan.

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    UCLA Warner Graduate Art Studio renovation and addition, Culver City, CA, USA

    Second floor schematic plan.

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    UCLA Warner Graduate Art Studio renovation and addition, Culver City, CA, USA

    Schematic roof plan.

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    UCLA Warner Graduate Art Studio renovation and addition, Culver City, CA, USA

    Culver City aerial view.

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    LafargeHolcim Awards 2017 for North America prize handover ceremony, Chicago

    The UCLA Warner Graduate Art Studio renovation and addition by (l-r): Mark Lee and Sharon Johnston of Johnston Marklee & Associates, Los Angeles won an Acknowledgement prize.

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    Holcim Foundation Awards 2017 for North America

    Winners of an Acknowledgement prize for the UCLA Warner Graduate Art Studio renovation and addition in Los Angeles (l-r): Maik Strecker, Head Growth & Innovation North America, Holcim; prize winners Sharon Johnston and Mark Lee of Johnston Marklee & Associates; and Jury member Forrest Meggers, Professor at the School of Architecture and Andlinger Center for Energy & Environment at Princeton University, NJ.

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    LafargeHolcim Awards 2017 for North America prize handover ceremony, Chicago

    Presentation to the winning teams of the four Acknowledgement prizes (l-r): Vivian Kuan and Mitchell Joachim of Terreform ONE; Maik Strecker, Head Growth & Innovation North America, LafargeHolcim; Anyeley Hallova, project^ and Thomas F. Robinson, LEVER Architecture;Sharon Johnston and Mark Lee of Johnston Marklee & Associates; John Stull, CEO Cement LafargeHolcim US; Stephen Luoni, University of Arkansas; Jury member Forrest Meggers, Professor at the School of Architecture and Andlinger Center for Energy & Environment at Princeton University, NJ; and Marty Matlock, University of Arkansas.

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    UCLA Warner Graduate Art Studio renovation and addition, Culver City, CA, USA

    Sharon Johnston and Mark Lee, architects, Johnston Marklee, Los Angeles, USA

  • Awards Acknowledgement prize 2017–2018 North America
The project aims to achieve two key objectives: first, to rehabilitate existing urban and architectural elements through adaptive reuse and complementary additions; and second, to explore how ordinary construction techniques can generate meaningful spaces and forms.

By Sharon Johnston, Mark Lee - Johnston Marklee, Los Angeles, CA, USA and

Ideas: Embodied Carbon , Urban Requalification

The building serves as the new home for the Margo Leavin Graduate Art Studios at UCLA, located on the site of a former wallpaper factory in Culver City, Los Angeles County. Guided by the motto “Adapting for a Flexible Future,” the L-shaped addition features naturally ventilated spaces and outdoor courtyards, designed to adapt to future needs. Seamlessly integrating new and old structures, the project connects with its surroundings, fostering versatile and evolving uses.

Project Status: Completed – September 2019

Project Location: 3600 Hayden Ave, Culver City, CA 90232, USA

Elemental Construction in California

Project authors

  • GS
    Guy Smith

    Horton Lees Brogden

  • NH
    Nicholas Hofstede

    Johnston Marklee

  • AH
    Amy Hackney

    Simpson Gumpertz & Heger

  • ID
    Ishwar Dhungana

    KPFF

  • PB
    Pamela Burton

    Pamela Burton & Company

  • HM
    Hayden McKay

    Horton Lees Brogden

  • SH
    Sean Hira

    ME Engineers

  • RG
    Reto Geiser

    MG&CO

  • TM
    Tori McKenna

    Johnston Marklee

  • KO
    Kevin O’Connell

    Simpson Gumpertz & Heger

  • CG
    Cassidy Green

    GAIA

  • TM
    Thomas McCorkell

    Van Deusen & Associates

  • JC
    John Carter

    C Plus C Consulting

  • CS
    Chris Sterparn

    Capital Projects Group

  • WD
    Walker Donahue

    Jensen Hughes

  • DG
    David Gray

    Johnston Marklee

  • LE
    Lindsay Erickson

    Johnston Marklee

  • JG
    Jim Good

    Veneklasen

Economic, contextual, and environmental aspects are combined to form a sophisticated building in an extraordinary approach for an ordinary structure. Holcim Awards 2017 jury for North America

Words with Winners

Sharon Johnston and Mark Lee – founders and partners at Johnston Marklee – discussed their approach to the extension and adaptive reuse of a former wallpaper factory with the Holcim Foundation.

Elemental Construction in California, USA

“There’s almost like an under-designed quality to the building, meaning it’s calibrated with light and scale but it doesn’t really determine how you can use the spaces.” – Sharon Johnson, Founder & Partner, Johnston Marklee

The firm’s design for the new studio complex were based around a series of basic strategies: removing obsolete structures, creating a continuous ground level of interconnected spaces and constructing a new, expanded roof that could act as a solar umbrella and enable passive ventilation.

Holcim Foundation Awards 2025

Are you working on a project like this? Enter the Holcim Foundation Awards 2025 and join the ranks of industry-changing winners!

Holcim Foundation Awards Microsite

Project updates