OneLegacy Campus

Location: Azusa, CA 
Project Type: Medical and office improvements
Services: Ground-up architectural and interior design

Project Description

The OneLegacy Campus earned the prestigious Gold Award at the 2023 Los Angeles Business Journal Commercial Real Estate Awards, under the category of 'Best New Headquarters.'

The project included a complete renovation of an existing 98,000 SF building and a building addition of about 127,000 SF which included a new 250-stall parking structure.

Originally built by Aerojet in 1985, the repurposing and expansion of the 98,000 SF structure into a modern, well-lit and healthy workplace is host to a complex program that encompasses three distinct areas: public area with an 8,000 SF convention center, a memorial garden and amphitheater and a cafeteria; office area including 75,000 SF of office space for OneLegacy headquarters, OneLegacy Foundation and the Board of Directors; and the clinical area expanding over 37,000 SF on the first floor.

The existing building had two elevator lobbies with the floors opening up to the atrium located in the middle. We were able to achieve a high degree of energy compliance by repurposing most of the existing building shell, core, and atrium with skylights and use of energy-compliant infrastructure.

In our design, we kept most of the private offices and conference rooms situated along the interior side of the atrium with full-height glass partitions and doors to let natural light into the open work areas. 

On the south side, the office spaces are broken up with balconies for outdoor enjoyment.

The courtyard has a good balance between drought-tolerant landscape and hardscape and some olive trees are placed strategically to allow some shade on sunny days. The cafeteria has glass folding partitions on the west side of the courtyard to accommodate large gatherings.

The north side between the conference center and the cafeteria opens up to a Memorial garden with a fountain and views of the San Gabriel mountains.

The drought-tolerant landscape and hardscape areas were designed to shield the building from highway traffic noise.

The medical area of the building was strategically located on the first floor for easier access to the loading dock and parking for a quick response. The new building's rooftop also houses a helipad for rapid transportation of surgical teams and donated organs.

Challenges and Solutions

This project began construction in late 2020 amid the pandemic. We encountered many challenges from production, delivery, supply, and controllability to name a few. We were in the middle of the worldwide steel shortage and rising material prices.

We resolved some issues through strategies such as preordering steel based on preliminary drawings so we could procure the material in time for erection.

Rising prices across the board were an ongoing issue that we worked to mitigate through VE efforts or alternate material solutions that were not affected by the pandemic.

As we thought in late 2021 we were heading out of the supplier issues we then ran into offshore shipping issues and the closing of ports. This affected our offshore finishes being delayed coming to the site, but due to our early preordering, it did not impact the completion date.

After all of the struggles going through the pandemic and the disruption to the global supply chain, we were able to stay on budget and keep the original completion date.