The Los Angeles Bureau of Engineering has selected three teams for the next phase of the competition to redevelop and expand the Los Angeles Convention Center. The teams, consisting of AC Martin + LMN; Gensler + Lehrer Architects; and HMC + Populous, will now receive $200,000 to develop detailed proposals to be submitted on December 8th.
However, according to The Architect's Newspaper, the redevelopment of the Convention Center outlined by the brief is not yet guaranteed to happen; with the city under contract with AEG to build a football stadium on a portion of the site until October 18th, the Convention Center's Executive Director Bud Ovrum confirmed that, if the city can secure an NFL team by then, the stadium is still the city's first choice.
If the NFL plans fall through the convention center will indeed go ahead according to the designs of the winning team, which will involve increasing the Center's useable space to over one million square feet, renovating the West Hall, and adding "at least one" 1,000-room hotel.
Ovrum said that the expansion would allow the Los Angeles Convention Center to better compete with other convention centers. "We’re significantly smaller to start and the competition is upping its game," arguing that the renovation, rather than construction of the stadium, "makes more economic sense" for the Center.
Story via the Architect's Newspaper
