Architect Robert Hale steers a reporter through the glass doors of a new building his firm has designed in downtown Los Angeles and then quickly spins around. In the distance stands a tall, gray spire familiar to viewers of the old Dragnet TV show. "There's City Hall," Hale says. "That was important to them."
"Them" in this case is his client, the California Endowment, a foundation that represents nonprofit health-care organizations in the state. Since educating city officials about the state’s health care needs is a big part of the Endowment's work, having a view of City Hall was symbolic.
PLATE PLAY. It’s also a good representation of how Hale’s firm -- Los Angeles-based Rios Clementi Hale Studios -- works. Rios Clementi takes a holistic approach to architecture, crafting not just the buildings but the landscaping, interior design, even the plates the occupants eat off of.
"We really try to be a design firm rather than an architectural firm," says partner Mark Rios. "We find we get more work and have a better relationship with clients when we do more exclusive designs."
In the case of the $65 million California Endowment project, Rios Clementi recognized that the structure needed to be more than just an office tower. So the firm designed a complex that includes three buildings, laid out around a courtyard like an old Spanish mission. On two sides there are meeting rooms, 14 in all, where other nonprofit organizations from around the state can come and conduct business.
PEPPER TREES. The colors of the buildings -- red, green, ocher, and blue -- take cues from the surroundings: the Spanish-style Union Station, the arches of Chinatown, and the sunny California sky. Rios Clementi also did the landscaping, choosing native flora -- redwoods, pepper trees, and grapevines.
"They listened," says Endowment boardmember E. Lewis Reid when asked why Rios Clementi won the commission. "We wanted the building to be open, transparent, and fit in with the community."
Rios Clementi's design-it-all-yourself approach is part of an old trend -- think Frank Lloyd Wright creating the china at Tokyo's Imperial Hotel. But while contemporary architects such as Frank Gehry and Michael Graves may design many other things besides buildings, Rios Clementi is unique in that it's a manufacturer and retailer of ancillary items itself.
GARDEN STAKES. Rios Clementi has its own housewares line that the firm calls notNeutral. The products include vases, barware, pillows, and linens, typically featuring geometric patterns and bright colors.
The items are sold at speciality shops, museum stores; on the company's Web site, notNeutral.com; and in a retail store that occupies the first floor of Rios Clementi's offices on trendy Melrose Avenue. One recent design was a line of metal garden stakes shaped like birds, bugs, and flowers. "It's sort of amazing to see what sells," Hale says.
Often the ideas come from their architectural commissions. Inspired by work creating child-care centers for clients such as Warner Bros. (TWX), Rios Clementi designed furniture that's now available at chic retailer Design Within Reach (DWRI).
GENTLY SLOPING. The items include the $890 BB2 bed, made of birch plywood. It has a built-in storage shelf at the end and a gently sloped headboard that kids can lean against while reading or playing video games. "Architects have practiced the same business model for a long time -- a percentage of construction costs," says Rios. "We’re looking for recurring sources of revenue."
To really see the Rios Clementi approach it helps to go to the mall. Not to a store, but to the food court at the upscale Westfield Century City mall in Los Angeles, which Rios Clementi designed. Christened a "dining terrace," the brightly lit, indoor-outdoor space features wood and metal patio furniture, bold colorful light panels, and a dozen restaurants, many of them unique concepts such as Tacone Flavor Grill, an upscale taco stand.
Patrons who stay and eat at the food court do so on Rios Clementi-designed acrylic dinnerware that gets collected afterward by restaurant staff. On a recent Thursday at lunch time the terrace was packed with well-dressed employees from nearby office buildings and stores. If Rios Clementi can make a food court in L.A. chic, the possibilities are endless.
Palmeri is a senior correspondent in BusinessWeek's Los Angeles bureau
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