SOM’s City Design Practice has developed a comprehensive plan to revitalize Guangzhou’s Old Town as a priceless asset for the city. With a systematic and integrated approach balancing historic preservation, modern reinvestment, and community revitalization, the plan seeks to enrich the lives of Guangzhou residents and to maximize the potential of this area as a … Continued
In 2017, SOM completed a new office space to accommodate the growth of its Los Angeles studio. Located downtown, at the Wells Fargo Center—a complex designed by SOM and completed in 1983—the office provides a flexible workspace with room for expansion. The 16,000-square-foot office includes four conference rooms, two pantries, an architectural materials library, a … Continued
Celebrating 100 years of innovative student-centered learning, the Dalton School is reimagining itself for the 21st century. SOM has partnered with this premier, coeducational K-12 school to more deeply connect its physical spaces to the pedagogical foundation established by Helen Parkhurst in 1919. The project centers on a two-story rooftop expansion to the existing 12-story … Continued
Roche Diagnostics Suzhou is a 150,000-square-meter campus, comprising 10 buildings interspersed with gardens in the Chinese city of Suzhou. With a global master plan and architectural design by SOM, it is the first manufacturing facility in China for the Swiss-based medical diagnostics company. The campus design takes inspiration from Suzhou’s historic gardens, which are recognized … Continued
In 1957, SOM designed the former International Arrivals Building for New York’s Idlewild Airport (now the John F. Kennedy International Airport). By the mid-1990s, the facility had become cramped and outdated. SOM led a revitalization effort to create a spacious new building that could meet the needs of modern air travel. The resulting terminal — … Continued
In 2018, the City of West Hollywood unveiled its SMART City Strategic Plan—a multi-phase roadmap to incorporate smart technologies, digital tools, and data analytics into a variety of city services. The goal is to use these technologies, combined with improvements to the built environment, to make city services more effective and efficient. The plan identifies … Continued
A phased approach for growth By the late 1990s, travel to and from Pearson International Airport had far exceeded its design capacity. Anticipating further growth toward 29 million annual passengers, the Greater Toronto Airports Authority engaged SOM, in conjunction with Adamson Associates and Moshe Safdie, to imagine the airport’s future: a design for a new … Continued
Enhancing the city’s public health response The New York City Public Health Laboratory (PHL) has been a critical tool to respond to public health crises in New York for more than a century. Established in 1892 to address the diphtheria outbreak, PHL was the first municipal bacteriological laboratory in the world. More recently, it was … Continued
Sunset La Cienega Residences, a design collaboration between SOM and Lorcan O’Herlihy Architects (LOHA), is a transformative, mixed-use project at the heart of Los Angeles’ iconic Sunset Strip. The project leverages the site’s complexity—and the neighborhood’s world-renowned cultural legacy—to create a vibrant new hub of urban activity. The two-acre residential development is located on the … Continued
Planning a new campus community SOM led a team in developing the master plan for housing on the University of California, Santa Barbara campus. Built around an existing residence hall, the project introduces apartment-style housing for more than 1,000 students, along with staff and faculty residences, dining commons, a convenience store, and other amenities. The … Continued